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We study intergenerational social mobility in Mexico at the subnational level to determine whether poorer regions have similar rates of social mobility as richer ones. We approximate socioeconomic status with an index that captures the variability across households in durable goods, services and education of household heads for both adult children and their parents. The estimated indicators suggest a clear north–south gradient in social mobility: the children of poor parents in the northern regions experience greater upward mobility than in the central and southern regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pilots an approach for using trademark data to study regional diversification. Bridging the respective literatures, we develop a regional trademarking-intensity measure that can shed new light on how different regions diversify while also accounting for changing industrial structures and income levels (regional gross domestic product). The approach reveals that density has a moderate effect on trademarking intensity and confirms the strong relationship between new firm formation and regional diversification. These effects are found to vary by sector and to be sensitive to industry-level employment and turnover. Lastly, the analysis indicates that regional diversification differs sharply between urban and peripheral regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why and how do regional politics develop outside the context of a coherent regional economy? Alongside the familiar logic of city-regional growth coalitions, we introduce a less familiar logic of regional imaginaries actively constructing strategies in novel scalar configurations. We explore this second logic of regionalism in the case of the Toronto–Waterloo 'Innovation Corridor'. We highlight three important forces: the productive ambiguity of the region as a spatial and strategic concept; the centrality of regionalism entrepreneurs in constructing a political agenda; and the importance of extrospective policy-making for establishing a rationale for collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Abbott Government announced its White Paper review of the Australian Federation on June 28, 2014. Set against this backdrop, discussions of the future of Australian local government may provoke an assumption that its role will be cruelled. However, reflection suggests that such an assumption is misplaced. In particular, when the complexities of regionalism in Australia are considered, the potential role of local government begs revisiting. We argue that local government ought to adopt a forthright position in the current debate, particularly with respect to financial reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Although the role of organized business in regional economic integration is well documented, extant scholarship portrays them as mere legitimizers and partners of regional policy. This neat categorization fails to capture the complicated, ‘multiscalarity’ of business and overall civil society's role in regional governance. Drawing insights from social constructivism and empirical evidence from fieldwork conducted in 2012 and 2013 on the interactions between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and region-wide business associations and advocacy networks since the early 1990s, this article shows that although African business groups are relatively new actors at the regional stage, their impact on regional governance is substantial. This is not only in terms of getting governments to adopt particular policies or the ability to hold the state accountable, as functional institutionalists might argue, but also in terms of the regional socialization effects, namely the willingness and ability to frame issues that influence the choices of political decision-makers. Business regional governance roles also straddle competing conventional roles, and sometimes counter the neoliberal vision of regional integration, even among those that owe their emergence to regional organizations. The study also challenges the pervasive view of business actors (especially in Africa) as simply profit-seekers by highlighting the ways business actors have deployed and acted on principled beliefs about regional identity collectively or individually to forge denser and relatively effective policy coalitions that signal unfolding changes in the direction of regional policy in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to understand the basic characteristics of regionalism in Brazilian foreign policy. For this purpose, it goes over the recent history of Brazilian involvement in regional trade and security arrangements in South America. It also examines the manner in which economic uncertainties, brought about by the 2008–2009 global financial crisis, affected Brazilian foreign policy towards its region. Based on this historical analysis, it defines five key aspects that characterise Brazilian behaviour in the region, namely: post-democratisation regionalism; presidential regionalism; reactive regionalism; concentric/multilevel regionalism; and instrumental regionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article contributes to the ‘new’ European regionalism by discussing the role that regional identity can play in regional development. It is based on the concept of ‘regional identity’ as the keystone of the institutionalization of the region and as consisting of two intertwined and complementary components: the regional consciousness of the inhabitants and the identity of a region. Through the heuristic study of relevant scholarly articles, the authors critically discuss six case studies from European countries dealing with the relationship between regional identity and regional development and published in the first decade of the new millennium. To date, research has examined the role of regional identity as both a successful and unsuccessful driver in regional development. From the case studies, a third possible role of regional identity is identified: regional identity as a barrier to regional development. Further, the article discusses the relationship between these three roles and attempts to identify factors causing the differentiation of the effects of regional identity in the context of regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]