Rural economies: new digital technologies will not offset remoteness
The pandemic has created a rise in working from home, and the new technologies may similarly make it easier for some rural businesses to compete with urban rivals. But we doubt that they will produce a major relocation of activity. The advantages of urban economies, plus employers’ scepticism about remote working, imply that changes will be incremental.
What you will learn:
- What is very striking is that in England, it is only urban areas with large cities that clearly out-perform rural areas
- Crucially, productivity tends to be much lower in rural than urban areas, with higher value-added service activities concentrated in cities.
- Improved digital technology may partly help levelling the playing field, but most employers are sceptical about adopting long-distance remote working.
Tags:
Related Services

Post
What do the tariff letters mean for APAC and the China+1 strategy?
A tiered-tariff system effectively blurs the distinctions between goods made in China and those rerouted via regional supply chains, weakening the advantage of China+1 manufacturing.
Find Out More
Post
A year older, none the wiser ‒ a fractious GNU stumbles on
South Africa's Government of National Unity (GNU) has struggled over the one year of its existence, largely because of the ad hoc manner in which it was assembled.
Find Out More