Wider societal impact ‘is the reason we became academics’

Few academics’ work genuinely influences government policy, if not for the lack of trying.

Two researchers who can genuinely claim to hold sway over the UK Treasury after a key recommendation of theirs was adopted by chancellor John Healey last month say the result was a product of more than 20 years’ worth of work.

Ben Groom, professor at the University of Exeter, and Mark Freeman, professor at the University of York, have long pushed for the “social discount rate” in the public spending manual known as the Green Book to be lowered from 3.5 to 3.0 per cent.

Chancellor John Healey announced this change in his 3 September growth speech, saying the decreased rate “will skew investment towards projects with more long-term potential, meaning that more places across the UK will get a fair hearing”.

Freeman told Times Higher Education that already, this is “one of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done”, adding that the work had given them “fantastic access to people, both in practice and academia”.

He said the change in the social discount rate – which measures how much society values future outcomes relative to present ones – has “real implications in the way that Ben and I think will improve decision making”.

Speaking to THE, Groom added that the reason he chose to pursue an academic career “is that I want it to have impact now”.

The pair are now waiting to hear if the rest of their suggestions made in a report commissioned by the department will be adopted at the upcoming 28 October budget.

On why the Treasury chose them, Groom told Times Higher Education: “We’ve been trying pretty hard to get involved in this particular area of policy for a very long time.”

He first worked on discounting in 2003 as a PhD student and later began collaborating with Freeman on their shared research interests, writing papers on the broad idea that longer time horizons should lower the rate. In 2013, they first organised a workshop on this issue with the Treasury, with the duo first writing a paper on the topic for the department in 2018.

“We’ve had this 20-year association with the Treasury on this topic. [But] never had any influence whatsoever,” Groom said.

Their connection with government and continued interest in the topic – despite some people finding it “intensely boring” – “made us obvious choices for the review when the review was asked for in the end”, he said.

Freeman said that both he and Groom work in institutions that “absolutely value real-world impact and delivery”. Asked if not all institutions give the same regard to real-world impact, Freeman said it “probably” varies across economic disciplines in the UK.

On the prospect of future work for the Treasury, Freeman said he didn’t think the Treasury would do another discount review in their working lives. But he saw many opportunities internationally as “virtually every other government in the world…is worried about their discount rates and will have the equivalent of the Green Book”.

He gave an example that if the Democrats win the next election in the US, “it’s quite likely” that they “will come back and look at this question again” and “ask Ben and I what we learnt from the UK experience”.

frances.jones@timeshighereducation.com