Max Nathan
Professor of Economic Geography at University College London
I’m Professor of Economic Geography at UCL. I’m also an affiliate in the Urban Programme at the Centre for Economic Performance, and affiliated at CAGE and IZA@LISER. I’m a member of the Economic Geography editorial board.
My academic research has four broad themes. I work on the economics of cultural diversity, in particular the performance of diverse cities, communities and teams: I’m completing a multi-year ESRC-funded programme exploring these connections. I also work on innovation systems and clusters, especially in tech; on the creative industries and their impacts on neighbourhoods and cities; and on public policy for cities, especially programme design and evaluation.
Outside academia, I co-founded the Centre for Cities think tank and the What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth. I’ve also worked in government in the UK Department of Communities and Local Government (now MHCLG) on issues like localism, regeneration and economic development.
My CV is here. Here’s a hi-res photo. Email me: max.nathan at ucl.ac.uk.
Research themes
The economics of cultural diversity
Diverse cities, communities and teams; immigration, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Innovation systems
The microfoundations of innovation, and why proximity matters in workspaces, teams and clusters.
The creative industries and cities
Mapping creative clusters, and the impacts of creative activity on neighbourhoods and cities.
Public policy for cities
Urban economic development strategies, policy evaluation and urban governance.
Recent work
- No 10 North: will it work? And how will we know? (Medium)
- GRAPH-EE: building employer-employee panels from company accounts and the public web (CEP Discussion Paper)
- Don’t Shoot the Pianist, with Diana Gutierrez-Posada and Tasos Kitsos, in Economic Geography
- Multipliers from a major public sector relocation: the BBC’s move to Salford (CEPR Discussion Paper)