Policy Impact Model: Measuring the impact of local intervention

January’s announcement of Levelling Up funding by the UK government provoked a sceptical response. But evidence does show that raising skill levels, attracting inward investment, raising export performance, and several other types of intervention can help to improve local economic performance.

Our Policy Impact Model (PIM) helps to measure the potential impact of intervention and can help local authorities and their economic development partners choose which of these are most appropriate, inform funding bids, and evaluate the impacts of past interventions.

What you will learn:

• • The PIM is an extension to our Local Impact Model (LIM), which we have been using for the last two decades to estimate the impact of private sector investments on local and regional economies. The PIM draws on a range of data sources, tools and assumptions to quantify different outcomes. It captures the direct, supply chain and indirect benefits from local interventions.
• Interventions that can be assessed in the PIM include those designed to upskill local people, boost productivity and inward investment, alongside a variety of other initiatives related to business support, trade, innovation, R&D and broadband connectivity.
• Even if it is correct to be sceptical about the overall prospects for Levelling Up across the UK, there is certainly a role for interventions, and for using economic modelling to estimate their likely benefits and improve the prospects for local businesses and people.