Neil Lee

Neil Lee is Professor of Economic Geography at the LSE. He also holds positions as Professor II at the Inland University of Norway, as an Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and as an Associate of the University of St Andrews. Before joining academia he was Head of a Research Centre at a think-tank. He has held visiting positions at Columbia University, Science Po Toulouse, and the University of Oxford. He runs the Cities, Jobs, and Economic Change network at the LSE's International Inequalities Institute.

His work considers innovation, inequality, and the geography of economic development. He has studied economic development in countries as diverse as the UK, Switzerland, Kuwait, Singapore, and China. He is currently leading international projects on the changing geography of regional inequality across the advanced world, the development of Singaporean tech, and equity finance for the tech sector. He has also written on political change, and the problems of populism in the context of high regional inequality.

His research has been funded by international and private sector organisations including the World Bank, OECD, the EIB, and Barclays Bank, and cited in key government documents such as the UK Levelling Up White Paper. He has won prizes for his teaching and for his research, including the 2020 Regional Studies prize for his work on inclusive growth. His book on innovation and inclusive growth is out late 2023 with University of California Press.

He has given keynote lectures and presentations at international organisations including the OECD, the European Commission, conferences including the Geography of Innovation 2020 and the Vigo Innovation Summit, at various UK government departments, and banks including Barclays and Society Generale.