Economic statistics are fundamental to evidence-based policy making and the decisions we all make. To serve their purpose they need to keep up with constantly changing economies, drawing on new data sources and the best available methods. This calls for a creative, research-led approach to maintaining and developing them.
ESCoE is all about bringing to the fore this research-led approach to measuring the economy.
Established in 2017 with the support of the UK Office for National Statistics, ESCoE is the UK’s first-ever dedicated academic centre of expertise for economic measurement and one of just a handful around the world. Its foundation followed the recommendations of the Independent Review of UK Economic Statistics by Professor Sir Charles Bean, published March 2016. This Review recommended that “in conjunction with suitable partners in academia and the user community, ONS should establish a new centre of excellence for the analysis of emerging and future issues in measuring the modern economy”.
The Centre’s ambition is to be an international point of reference for measurement research, supporting cultural change in the delivery of economic statistics.
Our approach is clear. It involves building expertise, increasing collaboration between statistics producers, academia, policymakers and other data users, and raising the profile of economic measurement issues. We do this by addressing both theoretical and practical questions that arise in describing the modern economy, relying on our international network of Research Associates, and investing in the next generation of experts. We carry out our research in dialogue with statistics producers and promote constructive discussion through workshops and conferences.
There are many people involved in delivering our research programme. We bring together a partnership of leading UK and international institutions, academics and researchers. Hosted at King’s Business School (King’s College London), ESCoE is delivered through a collaboration between King’s Business School, the Fraser of Allander Institute (University of Strathclyde), the Institute for Fiscal Studies, innovation foundation Nesta, the University of Cambridge and the University of New South Wales, working with our research partners.