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This paper explores the effect of different regional technological profiles on the resilience of regional economies to exogenous shocks. It presents an empirical examination of the determinants of resilience through panel analyses of UK NUTS-III-level data for the period 2004–12. The results indicate that regions endowed with technologically coherent – and not simply diversified – knowledge bases are better prepared to face an unforeseen downturn and display adaptive resilience. Moreover, local economies tend to be more adaptable if they innovate in sectors with the strongest growth opportunities, even though firms' entry does not appear to contribute significantly towards resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scholarly work has enhanced our understanding of how new path development activities are enabled or constrained by ‘regional environments’, made up of pre-existing industrial structures, knowledge organizations, support structures and institutional configurations. This paper moves beyond overly static views on regional environments. We develop a dynamic perspective by analysing conceptually and empirically how a constraining environment can be transformed into one that enables the development of new growth paths. The paper offers a typology of various modes of change, including layering, adaptation and novel application that are used by key actors to ‘manipulate’ the regional support structures to facilitate new regional industrial path development. The conceptual framework is applied to a case study of the digital games industry in the region of Scania, southern Sweden. Our findings suggest that the creation of a more enabling environment for the growth of the digital games industry has been the outcome of multi-scalar processes and combinations of various modes of change employed by a few key individuals operating in the newly emerging path. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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.)

Copyright of Spatial Economic Analysis 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.)

Data for the Chinese province of Hubei are used to assess the performance of Kronenberg's Cross-Hauling Adjusted Regionalization Method (CHARM), a method that takes explicit account of cross-hauling when constructing regional input–output tables. A key determinant of cross-hauling is held to be the heterogeneity of commodities, which is estimated using national data. However, contrary to the authors’ findings for Finland, CHARM does not generate reliable estimates of Hubei's sectoral exports, imports and volume of trade, although it is more successful in estimating sectoral supply multipliers. The poor simulations of regional trade are attributed to the fact that Hubei is a relatively small region, where there is a large divergence between regional and national technology and pattern of final demand. The simulation errors are decomposed into components reflecting differences between regional and national technology, final demand and heterogeneity. The third component is found to be the least important of the three sources of error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territorial capital has gained considerable attention in the past few years. The aim with this work is to throw light on some underlying aspects of territorial capital research. The study focuses on the theoretical and empirical issues of territorial capital and highlights some critical remarks related to the topic. On the one hand, the focus of the study is on the comparison of concepts and approaches in connection with territorial capital; then an in-depth look is taken at “capital frameworks” related to the research field. On the other hand, a comprehensive overview is presented of empirical investigations by comparing the applied methods, dimensions and variables of territorial capital. An argument is also made for a critical assessment concerning the topic with regard to the sense and function of territorial capital in regional economics and local economic development and highlights some further dilemmas concerning the “properties of capital” and “territorial capital paradigm”. Finally, some suggestions are provided for the future of territorial capital analysis. The main result of the study is an own belief in the concept of territorial capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater participation in the digital economy provides a game changing opportunity to diversify and strengthen regional economies. Effective, integrated planning for the delivery of high-speed digital connectivity and the development of digital capability – at a regional level – is critical to achieving this. This paper proposes a compelling vision for regional digital growth, where stronger interactions at the regional level between physical, digital and knowledge accessibility generate economic growth, through increased exposure to the digital economy. This vision guides and orients the development of a strategic planning framework to deliver regional digital growth, embodied by a series of regional ‘building blocks’. By assembling these building blocks in harmony with a region's economic, ecological and social contexts, the ‘digital region’ can be designed – a planning overlay which brings focus to delivering a region's digital destiny. [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.)

In spite of the continuing European integration process, some Austrian cities are still disconnected from the dynamic development in the big metropolitan areas. Being confronted with growing competition and threatened by shrinkage processes, these mostly small and mid-sized cities have to fulfill their role as regional centers and economic growth engines. This is especially true for small towns in the Austrian region of Waldviertel, where conditions have changed dramatically since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Hence, this paper will investigate whether the risk of further peripheralisation has been banned in this formerly peripheral region near the border to the Czech Republic. In this context the paper discusses the main theories and concepts explaining regional development in current literature. It examines the most relevant driving forces of regional economic development stressing the importance of endogenous factors and relational capital. The empirical analysis of the Waldviertel reveals the main characteristics of recent economic and demographic development and tries to identify processes of centralisation and peripheralisation within the region. The main results show a slight improvement of the economic situation in recent years and prove that the rural areas can only participate in growth impulses in the regional centers if they are economically linked to them. Based on these empirical findings, the paper elaborates the role of small towns in strategic planning approaches in Austria and discusses opportunities to offer endogenous strategies for sustainable development. It concludes that territorial competitiveness of peripheral regions needs to be supported by comprehensive and network-based planning approaches on a regional level. English Title: Small Towns as Growth Engines for Rural and Peripheral Regions: the Case of Waldviertel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Border regions have to overcome substantial locational disadvantages in order to have a stake in the competition of regions and to achieve an ordered economically and socially stable and future-oriented development in terms of spatial planning. A peripheral location often brings barriers and potential risks for further development in border regions. However, it may also provide opportunities – based on the clever and comprehensive utilisation of all endogenous potentials. The region Bodensee-Oberschwaben, as part of the tri-national Bodensee region D-A-CH (Germany-Austria-Switzerland) is on its way to successfully dealing with impediments resulting from its location at the border: dividing elements such as the large Lake of Constance, the Alps and the relatively long distances to the administrative centers in Stuttgart and Berlin, are overcome in the sense of a de-peripheralization. In conjunction with other regions of a similar structure and with corresponding directions of development, the region is positioning itself in a “Network of European Spaces”, which works in addition to metropolitan Region-approaches. This paper analyzes and describes why and how regions succeed in stepping out of their peripheral location. English Title: Peripheries Don't Have to Remain Peripheries. De-peripheralization in the Bodensee-Oberschwaben Region [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The extension of the tourism satellite account (TSA) to the regional scale is an opportunity for regional policymakers to undertake consistent and defensible analyses of the tourism economy and its interconnections based upon high-quality and comparable data. However, limitations in the TSA structure will need to be resolved before policy useful analysis can become the rule rather than the exception. The paper reviews the development of TSAs at sub-national levels and goes on to examine their usefulness to policymakers, and how far problems with the framework can be overcome in a practical manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is suggested that the emergence of a more peaceful and prosperous Africa depends on the implementation of “African solutions for African problems” and that this be done through the creation of regional security communities. This may sound right, but because of internal and external factors, as a policy it is cynical, hypocritical, and misleading. There is a fundamental contradiction between the concept in theory and in practice. This paper shows that the complex problems in Africa are part of the global systemic interaction that often hinders the potential of the African Union and its regional economic communities' ability to become security communities. I argue that since Africa's problems are not only African but also global problems, solutions for Africa can only be global-systemic. [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.)

How should we think of the role of regions in relation to the global economy? Theory has surprising gaps when it comes to building a unified vision of these two scales of development. Two contributions to such a vision are proposed in this article. First, the relationship between geographic concentration and the regional economic specialization it underpins and globalization should be theorized as a dynamic process. Standard location and trade theory is not adequate for this task; instead, the dynamic relationship can be captured through growth theory. But capturing this dynamic relationship requires correcting growth theory to separate its local and its global components, which are, respectively, Marshall- Arrow and Romer externalities. Second, the missing element in all theories of geographic concentration and locally specialized development is an element labeled "context" here. A theory of context, in turn, raises important new questions about the dynamic welfare and developmental effects of contemporary processes of fragmenting and relocating production at a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional economic communities, which are growing in numbers and size, play an increasingly important role in information and communication technology (ICT) policymaking. As seen through the lens of complex adaptive systems theory, such systems should strive to generate adaptive policies through adaptive policymaking processes that position them to respond to rapid technological change. To date, however, regional policymaking has been overly concerned with policy harmonization as an outcome, possibly to the detriment of other important goals. Despite this bias, upon closer examination, one finds that regional communities do foster adaptivity through their roles in the formation of epistemic communities, capacity building, and resource pooling. These activities contribute to variation, interaction, and selection, all key processes for adaptation. It is this degree of adaptivity, and its required balance between policy harmonization and competition, that should be the basis for analyzing the effectiveness of regional policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural resources are today the object of considerable attention in regional economics. Ground for new forms of innovation these resources have given rise to numerous works aiming at understanding the emergence and organisation of culture based economic activities and at identifying the role of these activities in regional development and urban planning. The objective of this article is to explore the way in which resources, and in particular cultural resources, are incorporated into production processes on the one hand, and the consequences on the resources of doing so on the other hand. Becoming an economic resource, a cultural “object” (symbol, image, cultural heritage, traditional know-how, etc.) becomes embedded within commercial relationships. The question we address here is what are the causes and consequences of this commodification of culture for the production systems, the customers and for the local communities which put a certain number of their constitutive elements into play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of state played in the regional innovation systems through state universities and legal and institutional set-up within Turkey. Initially, the paper will discuss the lack of regional perspective in policy-making that, until very recently, was predominant in Turkey. Secondly, the paper examines two salient laws that have ramifications for regional economics. The key elements in regional innovation systems can be split apart into two sections. On one side there are technology development regions/centres, and university-industry joint research centres. On the other side, taking into account the public research undertaken, there are the state universities, and the role that they play in the earlier mentioned centres/regions. The econometric analysis asserts that each of these elements has a positive and statistically significant effect on the patenting performance of regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we test the creativity and diversity hypothesis of Richard Florida for European regions. Florida argues that the level of regional economic development depends on the levels of technology, talent, and tolerance that regions harbour. Tolerance, in this case, is a measure for diversity of lifestyles, the creativity that results from it and population's openness towards non-traditional lifestyles. Using data for 94 European regions we investigate whether differences in creativity and diversity are a good predictor of differences in regional wealth in additive and multiplicative regression models. The results indicate that regional differences in diversity are directly related to differences in regional wealth. Moreover, we find that the synergetic effect of technology and talent on the level of regional wealth depends on the degree of diversity that resides within regions. Our findings support the idea that creativity and diversity deserve a more prominent place in economic geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using an AK-type model this article argues that joining the Armed Forces may have two opposing effects on the growth rates of economically depressed areas depending upon whether the country goes to war or not. On the one hand when individuals from relatively economically depressed areas join the Armed Forces, they gain access to education and build human capital which may translate into economic growth. On the other hand, however, if the country goes to war, these regions may end up losing their labour force, leading to a decline in the growth rate. We also argue that regions providing equipment may experience increased income and employment levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a study on the functioning of regional innovation networks (RINs) in the Netherlands. RINs are designed to achieve sustainable and socially acceptable regional economic development. By focusing on inter-human processes, the study aimed to gain more and deeper insights into the nature, the workings, the potential and the limitations of RINs in processes of innovation. An important insight from the study concerns the role of governments in RINs. Although the intention of the central government was to experiment with a fully bottom-up process, all RINs were eager to involve the government at different levels, at different times and for different purposes. [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.)

In this work we conduct an impact analysis of European Structural Funds to assess their effect on output, prices and consumers' income on the European region of Andalusia, in the south of Spain. For this purpose we present an Applied General Equilibrium Model for Andalusia (AGEM_A) and proceed to compare the reception of regional funds scenario to a hypothetical situation where this financial support has been removed. The AGEM_A has been numerically implemented by supplementing the statistical information provided by the Social Accounting Matrices for Andalusia corresponding to 1990, 1995 and 1999, with data included in the three Community Support Frameworks approved by the European Commission. [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.)

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.)

This paper analyzes the role of knowledge in regional economic growth by focusing on knowledge accessibility. The research question is the following: can the variation in knowledge accessibility between regions in a given period explain the variation in growth performance of regions in subsequent periods? A main assumption in the paper is that knowledge accessibility transforms into potential knowledge flows. Our results show that differences in growth of value-added per employee across regions can be explained by differences in knowledge accessibility. Intra-municipal and intra-regional knowledge accessibilities are significant and capable of explaining a significant share of the variation in growth of value-added per employee between Swedish municipalities. However, inter-regional knowledge accessibility turned out to be insignificant. This is interpreted as a clear indication of spatial dependence in the sense that the knowledge resources in a given municipality tend to have a positive effect on the growth of other municipalities, conditional on that the municipalities belong to the same functional region. Thus, the results of the analysis indicate that knowledge flows transcend municipal borders, but that they tend to be bound within functional regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the recommendations of the Allsopp Review on the adequacy of UK regional economic statistics. It raises general concerns over the philosophy underpinning the review and specific questions as to whether the review's recommendations are sufficient to operate effectively the present UK regional policy regime. In particular, the institutional arrangements that make up the 'new localism' in UK regional policy have data requirements that are more extensive than simply monitoring performance against government targets. Many of these in formational requirements were simply not considered or were given an inappropriately low weight in the Review's deliberations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is an important process in regional economic development. Especially the growth of new firms is of major significance to the commercialization of new ideas and employment growth. These growing new firms are transforming structurally like caterpillars turning into butterflies. However, like butterflies, they are at risk of leaving their region of origin for better places. This article analyzes how and why the spatial organization of firms develops subsequent to their start-up. A new conceptual framework and an empirical study of the life course of entrepreneurial firms are used to construct a theory on the firms' locational behavior that explains that behavior as the outcome of a process of initiatives by entrepreneurs, enabled and constrained by resources, capabilities, and relations with stakeholders within and outside the firms. The study shows that entrepreneurs decide whether to move their firms outside their region of origin for different reasons in distinct phases of the firms' life course. Being embedded in social networks, for example, is an important constraint on locational behavior during the early life course of a firm, but over time it becomes less important, and other mechanisms, such as sunk costs, increasingly determine a firm's locational behavior. The development of spatial organization is also of major importance: when a multilocational spatial organization has been realized, it is much easier to move the headquarters to another region. The spatial organization of entrepreneurial firms co-evolves with the accumulation of the firms' capabilities. A developmental approach that incorporates evolutionary mechanisms and recognizes human agency provides new insights into the age-old study of the location of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Midmore P., Munday M. and Roberts A. (2006) Assessing industry linkages using regional Input–Output tables, Regional Studies 40, 329–343. The regional policy literature has shown renewed interest in the promotion of industries with the potential to embed themselves into regional economies. Unfortunately, analysis of sectors within strategy-led documents often fails to tie the identification of key industries to any specific methodology. The paper demonstrates the use of several alternative methods of evaluating inter-industry linkages using Input–Output tables. In particular, and following the work of Dietzenbacher (1992), it uses financial information from Welsh Input–Output tables for 1995 to derive a measure giving specific insights into regional industry interdependency, and the presence of relatively self-contained groups of activity. This is the first time that this more complex measure has been applied to a regional transactions table in the UK, with the method shown to be of direct relevance to a smaller open economy. The results reveal differences in the rankings of key sectors compared with more conventional approaches. Conclusions discuss the importance of assessing industry interdependencies for the regional strategic planning process, and the problems associated with using Input–Output frameworks for such assessment. Midmore P., Munday M. and Roberts A. (2006) Assessing industry linkages using regional Input–Output tables, Regional Studies 40, 329–343. The regional policy literature has shown renewed interest in the promotion of industries with the potential to embed themselves into regional economies. Unfortunately, analysis of sectors within strategy-led documents often fails to tie the identification of key industries to any specific methodology. The paper demonstrates the use of several alternative methods of evaluating inter-industry linkages using Input–Output tables. In particular, and following the work of Dietzenbacher (1992), it uses financial information from Welsh Input–Output tables for 1995 to derive a measure giving specific insights into regional industry interdependency, and the presence of relatively self-contained groups of activity. This is the first time that this more complex measure has been applied to a regional transactions table in the UK, with the method shown to be of direct relevance to a smaller open economy. The results reveal differences in the rankings of key sectors compared with more conventional approaches. Conclusions discuss the importance of assessing industry interdependencies for the regional strategic planning process, and the problems associated with using Input–Output frameworks for such assessment. Echanges interindustriels, Analyse des secteurs clés, Tableaux d'échanges interindustriels, Vecteurs d'Eigen, Pays de Galles Midmore P., Munday M. and Roberts A. (2006) Assessing industry linkages using regional Input–Output tables, Regional Studies 40, 329–343. The regional policy literature has shown renewed interest in the promotion of industries with the potential to embed themselves into regional economies. Unfortunately, analysis of sectors within strategy-led documents often fails to tie the identification of key industries to any specific methodology. The paper demonstrates the use of several alternative methods of evaluating inter-industry linkages using Input–Output tables. In particular, and following the work of Dietzenbacher (1992), it uses financial information from Welsh Input–Output tables for 1995 to derive a measure giving specific insights into regional industry interdependency, and the presence of relatively self-contained groups of activity. This is the first time that this more complex measure has been applied to a regional transactions table in the UK, with the method shown to be of direct relevance to a smaller open economy. The results reveal differences in the rankings of key sectors compared with more conventional approaches. Conclusions discuss the importance of assessing industry interdependencies for the regional strategic planning process, and the problems associated with using Input–Output frameworks for such assessment. Industrieverknüpfungen, Analyse von Hauptsektoren, Aufwand-Ertragstabellen, Eigenvektoren, Wales Midmore P., Munday M. and Roberts A. (2006) Assessing industry linkages using regional Input–Output tables, Regional Studies 40, 329–343. The regional policy literature has shown renewed interest in the promotion of industries with the potential to embed themselves into regional economies. Unfortunately, analysis of sectors within strategy-led documents often fails to tie the identification of key industries to any specific methodology. The paper demonstrates the use of several alternative methods of evaluating inter-industry linkages using Input–Output tables. In particular, and following the work of Dietzenbacher (1992), it uses financial information from Welsh Input–Output tables for 1995 to derive a measure giving specific insights into regional industry interdependency, and the presence of relatively self-contained groups of activity. This is the first time that this more complex measure has been applied to a regional transactions table in the UK, with the method shown to be of direct relevance to a smaller open economy. The results reveal differences in the rankings of key sectors compared with more conventional approaches. Conclusions discuss the importance of assessing industry interdependencies for the regional strategic planning process, and the problems associated with using Input–Output frameworks for such assessment. Vínculos industriales, Análisis de sectores clave, Tablas Input–Output, Eigenvectores, Gales [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes empirical findings and results from the author's most recent research publication in Chinese: China's Unbalanced Economic Growth. It studies China's economic growth with a special emphasis on its regional disparities. It provides an analysis of China's overall economic landscape as well as an empirical study of China's unbalanced regional development. Based on its quantitative findings and results, the author predicts the emergence of ten Chinese metropolitan economies in the early twenty-first century and recommends a regional development strategy as well as implementation policies for China's future development. The major empirical findings, results and conclusions of this research are outlined in three sections: the first describes China's economic future—the emergence of ten regional metropolitan economies, the second reports the empirical findings of China's national and regional economic disparities and discusses policy implications, and the third investigates China's future economic growth and discusses its growth limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper draws on qualitative empirical evidence from studies of regeneration in North-East England, and seeks to link housing market renewal to wider regeneration issues at regional and neighbourhood levels. It suggests that the discourse on, and justification of, housing market renewal has shifted from a specific concern with low housing demand and abandonment to a more generalised modernisation agenda seeking the restructuring of low-income neighbourhoods in terms not only of housing quality but also of tenure and population. This modernisation discourse is strongly linked to a regional economic regeneration agenda. It is argued that despite claims for the holistic nature of market renewal policies, it seems unlikely that these will improve the economic circumstances of existing residents as opposed to serving regional economic development objectives. Moreover, the more sweeping change implied by the modernisation agenda may reinforce the tension at neighbourhood level between community-led neighbourhood renewal and the restructuring of tenure and population through market renewal. [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.)

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.)

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.)

This paper aims at analyzing the role of several monetary variables in the development of different regions based on the concepts of central place and on the Post Keynesian approach to regional economy. The concept of liquidity preference is used to analyze the effect of money behavior on the regional economic performance of regions inside Brazil. The analysis of data is accomplished by using principal component analysis and cluster analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 1980s, Australian governments have embraced neoliberal policies as a means of improving the nation's global economic competitiveness. The impacts of such policies in regional areas have been quite profound, leading to socio-economic polarisation, population loss, and the growth of anti-globalisation sentiments. In this paper, we examine the process of regional restructuring that arises from this trajectory in Australia, and examine current policy responses to change under the neoliberal regime. We argue that while many such responses are individualistic, and based upon policies of personal responsibility, self-advancement and entrepreneurship, others are imbued with the language of community, social capital and collective action. The existence of individualism and community within the same policy agenda may appear contradictory, yet it is suggested that neoliberalism brings together these two opposing discourses through a process of what Nikolas Rose calls ‘governing through community’. We explore how neoliberalism underpins community approaches to regional development in Australia, arguing that such strategies do little to counter the negative forces of globalisation in non-metropolitan parts of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years regional policy has become more and more concerned with the improvement of the innovation capacity and performance of firms. Many regional development strategies have as key elements the support of their regional innovation systems and innovative clusters of firms. It has been recognized that increasing the technological level, the value added and the competitiveness of a regional economy relies to a large extent on the innovation capacity of regional firms and clusters. Regional development is an important policy issue also for the European Union (EU). The EU Structural Funds aim at supporting regions lagging behind in their development or facing structural problems. In this paper how the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) affects innovation in the Austrian Objective 1 region Burgenland is analysed. In this case study data from an innovation survey conducted in the context of the recent mid-term evaluation are used in order to assess the innovation-related effects of the ERDF. The analysis leads to the conclusion that the ERDF does not target the problems and needs of regional firms regarding innovation in a satisfactory way which also hampers the successful restructuring of the regional economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Industrial Revolution the cyclical processes of rise and fall of regional economies have been accelerating. Many of the specific problems of the falling part of clustering, that is old industrial areas, are related to path dependency and lock-ins. Particularly political lock-ins hinder the necessary restructuring processes in old industrial areas. They can be considered as thick institutional tissues aiming at preserving existing industrial structures and therefore unnecessarily slowing down industrial restructuring and indirectly hampering the development of indigenous potential and creativity. Of the recently born offspring of the family of territorial innovation models, the learning region concept seems to be most focused on overcoming and avoiding political lock-ins in old industrial areas. Most scholars consider learning regions as regional development concepts in which the main actors are strongly, but flexibly, connected with each other and are open both to intraregional and interregional learning processes. Policy-makers in learning regions are involved in learning from institutional errors made in the past and by doing that in avoiding path-dependent development. Empirical evidence, however, shows that the learning region is of limited importance to unlock regional economies from path dependency, due to three weaknesses: its fuzziness, its normative character in its squeezed position between national innovation systems and global production networks. A less normative and more process-oriented concept is proposed in this paper, namely that of the learning cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is great interest in the new knowledge economy, less favoured regions seem permanently disadvantaged because they lack a critical mass of knowledge capital to initiate accumulation, growth and economic development processes. This is a problem for policy-makers seeking to promote economic growth and territorial cohesion in such regions. Despite this, examples from two such regions, Newcastle, UK and Twente, the Netherlands, suggests that such companies can be very successful. This paper seeks to develop a conceptual model of how university spin-off companies (USOs) can improve their regional economies. The economic benefits that such companies bring are explored, to identify those elements which can potentially upgrade regional economies through knowledge accumulation, which are termed ‘building up territorial knowledge pools’. This paper concludes by developing a conceptual framework for the operation of the territorial knowledge pool; highlighting four different roles played by USOs in improving regional innovation environments and considering the conceptual and policy implications raised by the framework model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the re-emergence of regional policy in Western Australia. It provides a conceptual overview of the changing nature of regional development and planning policy. It also reviews the three key policy documents, namely the 2000 Regional Development Policy, the 2003 revised Regional Development Policy and the regional elements of the 2003 State Sustainability Strategy.

The article discusses the planned reviews of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON). The work of ESPON carries forward the Study Program on European Spatial Planning organized by Nordregio in seeking a better understanding of spatial development trends across Europe. The program differentiates the thematic policy impact and cross-thematic projects.

The aim of this paper is to analyse some relevant aspects of regional disparities in the EU. The paper departs from standard analysis of convergence by tracking the evolution of the entire distribution, both by using nonparametric techniques and spatial econometric techniques. The main results confirm that: (a) regional disparities across the EU are large and persistent; (b) the ranking among the European regions is very stable; (c) there is a noticeable regional income polarization in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a critical exploration of the issues raised by the attempt to integrate aims and concerns derived from one European Union (EU) policy domain into another. It does this via an examination of the ways in which the European Employment Strategy (EES) has been taken into account in the design and initial implementation of Structural Fund program in the 2000–2006 round. In particular, it examines the nature of this ‘mainstreaming’ relationship in terms of the structures and mechanisms associated with current Objective 1 program operating in the UK. It maps out the vertical and horizontal linkages between European, national and regional levels, and assesses the extent to which strategic frameworks, program guidance and program content have successfully integrated EES considerations. The article concludes by identifying some implications for theories of European governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the phenomenon of industry clustering in Australia. It includes an overview of the factors that have shaped the historic and recent developments of clusters in Australia. Two philosophical approaches to clustering based on a whole of industry approach and regional facilitation are discussed. Four case studies are presented on the Australian wine industry, the Far North Queensland, North Adelaide and Hunter region clustering initiatives. The case studies represent different approaches to regional industry clustering in Australia. The conclusion to the article discusses future prospects for using clustering as a tool to foster regional economic development in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews perceptions of regional problems in Australia and opposing views of regional policy. It argues that regional conditions vary widely and that much of non-metropolitan Australia is not in decline, casting doubt on the existence of a divide and on arguments that the divide can, and should, be addressed by government. The article also argues that views on policy reflect perceptions of the nature and causes of regional problems, and of the capacity and desirability of government being involved in shaping regional outcomes. Current regional policy approaches, characterized by ‘pragmatic incrementalism’, are outlined and explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]