Leandro Carrera

The rise of a robot state? New frontiers for growing the productivity of government services

Conventional wisdom and most national statistics have long treated the productivity of the government services sector as entirely flat. Only a tiny literature considers what actually happened to productivity at the organizational level. Drawing on their pioneering book, Patrick Dunleavy and Leandro Carrera argue that we need to radically rethink our attitudes. We should begin adjusting to a public sector […]

February 25th, 2013|Leandro Carrera, Patrick Dunleavy, Public Services and the Welfare State|2 Comments|

Evidence from New Zealand suggests that the government’s plan for auto-enrolment into workplace pensions may substantially affect participation rates and total savings.

As the government plans to unroll its automatic enrolment in workplace pensions, Leandro Carrera argues that while the legislation is likely to increase the number of savers, policy design and evidence from New Zealand shows that uncertainty about the future and increased costs for employers could paint a more complex picture on the future of pensions. In a recent inquiry, […]

January 20th, 2012|Economy and Society, Leandro Carrera, Public Services and the Welfare State|0 Comments|

Unpacking the Hutton report recommendations: what the future holds for public sector pensions

Last week Lord Hutton set out proposals for public sector pension reform, which were mostly slammed by unions and the media for proposing that public servants work longer and pay more to get less from their pensions. Looking beyond the hype and the headlines, Leandro Carrera examines the key recommendations of the report and clears up the confusion about the […]

March 14th, 2011|Economy and Society, Leandro Carrera|0 Comments|

Government productivity in UK social security has not grown across two decades to 2008 – largely because DWP senior civil servants blocked any move to ‘digital era’ services

Looking at the Department of Work and Pensions, Patrick Dunleavy and Leandro Carrera show that overall productivity levels failed to grow at all across two decades, despite massive capital investment, increased IT spend and several business process reorganizations. The dominance of a conservative organizational culture among senior public managers, plus constant policy churn, prevented any transition to delivering transactions or […]

January 26th, 2011|Economy and Society, Leandro Carrera, Moving Social Security Online, Patrick Dunleavy, Public Services and the Welfare State|0 Comments|

High fees in UK pension plans can cost thousands: we need to look to Europe to find better ways of managing pensions

In previous posts we have highlighted how pension systems must be adapted to the fact that we are living longer, and one of the most common recommendations is to incentivise people to save in personal private pensions. Leandro Carrera investigates how high fees in pension plans can significantly reduce final pensions, and what the UK can learn from other […]

November 4th, 2010|Leandro Carrera, Public Services and the Welfare State|2 Comments|

The CSR and its impact on pensions. Will we have to work longer for less?

Leandro Carrera explains how the government measures will have a significant impact in our pension system and why further changes may be expected.

The government spending review contains many measures that will affect current and future retirees significantly. The most important change is that the State Pension Age (SPA) will increase to 66 for both men and women by […]

October 22nd, 2010|Economy and Society, Leandro Carrera, Public Services and the Welfare State|1 Comment|

All change in the UK’s welfare state? First thoughts on what policy commitments should go, and which should not

In advance of the Comprehensive Spending Review announcements coming this Wednesday, it is already clear that the UK’s welfare state faces a seismic shift at a scale unseen since the late 1940s. We asked a range of LSE experts to give us some first thoughts on policy areas that are already in play – with more to come as […]

October 18th, 2010|Bart Cammaerts, Charlie Beckett, Leandro Carrera, Public Services and the Welfare State, Tim Leunig|1 Comment|

How are pensions changing in the UK?

There are significant changes to the welfare system now on the cards from the new coalition government, and the pension system is not exempt. Leandro Carrera examines these changes in detail and looks at how the state and public sector pensions might be affected in the years to come.

Last Thursday, the government announced plans to scrap the default retirement […]

August 1st, 2010|Leandro Carrera, Public Services and the Welfare State|5 Comments|