Research Briefing | Dec 7, 2021

Rural economies: new digital technologies will not offset remoteness

Ipad Frame (75)

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:

  • Rural economies do not always underperform urban economies. At the EU level, rural economies grew at an average rate of 1.6 y/y in terms of GVA, 2009-19, and urban areas by 1.8%. And in the UK at least, rural areas have seen faster manufacturing growth than urban areas.
  • Rural areas which are close to large cities tend to out-perform remote rural regions. And productivity tends to be much lower in rural than urban areas, reflecting the advantages of cities in terms of market size and the availability of highly skilled specialists.
  • Improved digital technology may partly help levelling the playing field, but most employers are sceptical about adopting long-distance remote working.

{% video_player “embed_player” overrideable=False, type=’scriptV4′, hide_playlist=True, viral_sharing=False, embed_button=False, autoplay=True, hidden_controls=False, loop=False, muted=False, full_width=False, width=’1920′, height=’1080′, player_id=’50853623338′, style=”, conversion_asset='{“type”:”CTA”,”id”:”25e94432-b880-454e-b731-3b2432b8cab8″,”position”:”POST”}’ %}

 

Back to Resource Hub

Related Services

Post

Maintenance in Australia: 2023 Edition | Executive Summary

Australia’s maintenance market is estimated to have increased to $53.5bn in FY22, driven by road rehabilitation following flooding along the east coast of Australia. Road maintenance expenditure will continue to be supported over the near-term by Federal and State government programs. Mining maintenance spending will be buoyed by elevated commodity prices, and increased maintenance requirements on recently built LNG facilities.

Find Out More

Post

Australia: Roadblocks cleared for build-to-rent in Australia

The pipeline of build-to-rent (BTR) developments across Australia continues to swell, with our project tracking currently capturing a pipeline of circa 45,000 announced units. Around 5,900 units have broken ground in FY2023, with a further 15,000 geared to commence across FY2024 and FY2025.

Find Out More