Decentralising the United Kingdom: the Northern Powerhouse strategy and urban ownership links between firms since 2010

TL;DR

This paper examines the impact of the Northern Powerhouse strategy on economic connectivity between Northern UK cities since 2010, revealing limited changes in firm ownership linkages despite policy efforts.

Contribution

It provides an empirical analysis of firm ownership linkages to assess the effectiveness of the NPS in enhancing regional economic integration.

Findings

Weak increase in regional economic patterns post-2010

Shift away from manufacturing in NPS cities

Limited impact of NPS on firm ownership linkages

Abstract

This paper explores a decentralisation initiative in the United Kingdom - the Northern Powerhouse strategy (NPS) - in terms of its main goal: strengthening connectivity between Northern cities of England. It focuses on economic interactions of these cities, defined by ownership linkages between firms, since the NPS's launch in 2010. The analysis reveals a relatively weak increase in the intensity of economic regional patterns in the North, in spite of a shift away from NPS cities' traditional manufacturing base. These results suggest potential directions for policy-makers in terms of the future implementation of the NPS.