Knowledge workers, cultural diversity and innovation: evidence from London

Neil Lee and Max Nathan

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2010, vol. 1, issue 1/2, 53-78

Abstract: London is one of the world's major cities and one of its most culturally diverse. A number of studies link diverse workforces and populations to levels of urban innovation, especially in global cities. While widely explored as a social phenomenon, there has been little work on the importance of London's diversity for the city's businesses. This paper uses the 2007 London Annual Business Survey to investigate, exploiting the survey's unique coverage of both workforce composition and innovation outcomes. From a cross-section of over 2300 firms, we find significant positive relationships between workforce and ownership diversity, and product and process innovation. These provide some support for claims that London's cultural diversity is a source of economic strength.

Keywords: cultural diversity; migration; ethnicity; cities; firms; innovation; knowledge economy; economics; urban policy; economic development; knowledge workers; knowledge-based development; London; UK; United Kingdom; workforce composition; workforce diversity; product innovation; ownership diversity; process innovation. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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