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Regional Economic Development (regional + economic_development)
Selected AbstractsEntrepreneurship and Regional Economic Development,A Spatial Perspective , Edited by Henri L.F. de Groot, Peter Nijkamp, and Roger R. StoughGROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2006Ronald W. McQuaid No abstract is available for this article. [source] Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Development: A Spatial PerspectivePAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2005Hans Westlund No abstract is available for this article. [source] Strategic environmental awakening: European progress in regional environmental integrationENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2001Keith Clement In the EU Structural Funds, integrating environment and regional economic development is a challenge that is progressively being met. From a beginning characterized by conflict between these two themes, considerable progress has been made in successive rounds of programmes, accompanied by a gradual raising of awareness and the development of new mechanisms for integration. This progress has been supported by environmental guidance from the European Commission, with handbooks designed to raise new ideas and suggest innovative ways of approaching the task. Current programmes incorporate extensive environmental profiles to support programme development, and new methods of combining both horizontal and vertical integration show considerable promise for the realization of environmental objectives in programme implementation. To facilitate further integration, priorities for research include the role for environmental strategies, the production of an index of environmental integration, the identification of measurable environmental indicators and confirmation that sustainable development is acting as a catalyst for environmental gain. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] Capital Assistance for Small Firms: Some Implications for Regional Economic WelfareGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS, Issue 1 2000Daniel Felsenstein This paper analyzes the role of finance capital in regional economic development. A cost-benefit approach is invoked in order to estimate the welfare impacts of a regional loan and guarantee program for small firms in Israel. Program-created employment is treated as a benefit and an employment account that separates net from gross employment, is presented. An estimate of net wage benefits is then derived. This involves adjusting wages across different earnings classes in order to account for the variation in opportunity costs of labor at different levels. The estimation of costs includes the opportunity costs of capital, administration, default, and tax-raising costs. Results point to substantial regional welfare effects. We stress the need to account for changing regional economic structure in this kind of evaluation framework. [source] Understanding Remigration and Innovation , An Appeal for a Cultural Economic GeographyGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2009Claudia Klaerding The acquisition of new knowledge is a crucial capital of highly skilled remigrants and its utilisation in home countries can play a major role for regional economic development. By reviewing the remigration literature it is shown that remigrants are able to create innovation in their home countries and promote regional development. But also theoretical deficits can be identified regarding the structural conditions of transferring new knowledge across regions which precedes potential innovation processes. Recent theoretical ideas cannot sufficiently explain why remigrants become innovative to varying degrees depending on their home regions. A cultural approach of economic geography is needed to highlight the cultural construction of the economy. It allows for remigrants to be perceived as knowledge brokers, which crucially influences the returnee's capacity to innovate. [source] Regional Cluster Policies: Learning by Comparing?KYKLOS INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, Issue 3 2002Jan Hospers This paper deals with an intriguing paradox that can be observed in today's regional economic policy making: whereas unique local factors are increasingly seen as the determinants of regional economic success, simultaneously more and more governments try to copy policy experiences that proved to be successful in a particular region. A good example here is the use of ,best practices' in the field of regional cluster policy. Cluster programs are becoming like ,mantras' for policy makers who want to stimulate regional economic development. Given this paradox, in the present paper we address the question what lessons can be drawn from comparing success stories of regional clustering. To answer this question, we combine insights from regional economics and comparative public policy. To start, we discuss the literature that has led to the popularity of the cluster concept as a learning device among policy makers. After that, we identify the preconditions (,contingencies') that affect whether these cluster policy initiatives can be transferred from one place to another. We find that some of the contingent influences, especially those related to the degree of uniqueness of an area's economic structure and culture, hamper the possibility of ,learning by comparing' in regional cluster policy. It may even be argued that exactly those regional specificities explain the success of cluster,based policy efforts. Thus, we have to draw the rather pessimistic conclusion that the possibilities of lesson,drawing in regional cluster policy are limited. In our view, at best ,best practices' should be seen as inspiration sources rather than as recipes for successful regional economic development. A preliminary version of this paper was presented at the CURE 3,Conference on Outstanding Regions in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, November 22,24, 2000. We would like to thank Arnoud Lagendijk, an anonymous referee and the editors for valuable comments. [source] Sustainability of the dimension stone industry in Zimbabwe,challenges and opportunitiesNATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 3 2001Oliver Maponga Abstract The rapid expansion of the dimension stone and black granite industry in Zimbabwe in the 1990s, a result of increasing domestic and international demand for black granite, has ushered in new challenges and opportunities for producers and beneficiaries alike. This article investigates the social, environmental and economic challenges emanating from the export boom, the economic opportunities presented by the expanding market and the potential role the robust industry could play in regional economic development and poverty alleviation. The article evaluates the long-term sustainability of the dimension stone industry and recommends the reinvestment of revenues into diversification of the regional economic base, upgrading of local infrastructure, further processing of rough stone before export and encouragement of micro-businesses to enhance sustainability. The author argues for modification of economic incentives to incorporate environmental and social objectives in order to enhance sustainability. The need for a holistic approach to policies affecting the exploitation, processing and marketing of granite resources and their products is recognized. More research on the operations of the industry is called for. [source] Demand for information and communication technology-based services and regional economic development,PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2003Eduardo Anselmo de Castro Information and communication technology; demand modelling; network externalities; regional economic convergence Abstract. The relationship between the uptake of Information and Communication Technology-based services (ICT) and regional economic development is examined here; we address in particular the idea that ICT will promote regional economic convergence. We argue that ICT can generate contradictory trends of regional convergence and divergence and that, under conditions of non-regulated market supply, the effects leading to divergence can be dominant. The approach is based on the development of a regional demand model, which is the combination of two sub models, one dealing with the effects of network externalities and the other based on the concept of potential demand for ICT. The main conclusion is that less populous, more peripheral and poorer regions with weaker existing social and economic networking will encounter problems of insufficient demand. This in turn will delay the launch of new services and slow the rate of uptake. Negative dynamic effects of low ICT use on economic performance will generate a vicious circle of cumulative disadvantage. [source] Maximising the potential of university spin-outs: the development of second-order commercialisation activitiesR & D MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2005Claire M. Leitch This paper examines the dynamics of university spin-out company development, based on an in-depth, longitudinal case study of some of the spin-out activities of one of the longest established technology transfer organisations in the UK. The different types of resource flows between this organisation and some of the companies in which it has a stake are discussed. Specifically, the paper considers the efficacy and appropriateness of the university technology transfer office (TTO) becoming involved in what we term second-order spin-out activities. These are spin-out companies that have been formed on technology developed in a spin-out company, or by people working in that spin-out, but which have no substantive connection with the research or personnel base of the university. We argue that in a peripheral non-technology intensive regional economy, the role of the TTO may be more wideranging than has been commonly assumed and may include a focus on regional economic development as well as the commercialisation of university-based research. [source] Regional economic performance in China1THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 1 2003Ajit Bhalla Abstract This paper investigates convergence patterns among China's provinces using GDP data for the period 1952,97. We analyze convergence behaviour on the basis of Markov chains proposed by Quah (1993) and the generalized entropy decomposition proposed by Shorrocks (1980, 1984). Both sets of results show similar evidence of convergence within the pre-defined geo-economic sub-regions, but no evidence is found of convergence between the sub-regions. This finding has important policy implications for regional economic development in China. JEL classification: C33, E20, O47. [source] University Commercialization Strategies in the Development of Regional Bioclusters,THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2008Shiri M. Breznitz To analyze university contribution to economic development, the present study examines universities' technology transfer policies and their associated economic development impact. The article examines how a university defines itself as part of a region as well as what activities, if any, do university commercialization strategies in context of their regional environment affect spin-off activity. Furthermore, this study explores the ways universities contribute to regional economic development by examining existing theories and analyzing universities' relationships with both government and industry in two regions. This study draws from Roberts and Malone's (1996) selectivity,support typology and highlights this article's argument by comparing the commercialization strategies of world-class universities strategies in the development of regional biotechnology clusters in Massachusetts and in Connecticut. This article investigates the notion of whether universities can differently influence the economic development processes of the while still having successful commercial outcomes. These findings build on previous research (Clarysse et al., 2005; Degroof and Roberts, 2004; Powers and McDougall, 2005), which argues that low support,low selectivity policies may be more suitable to entrepreneurially developed environments, whereas high support,high selectivity policies are more efficient in entrepreneurially underdeveloped environments. Masachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is located in a strong technopole region, whereby many of its support structures for spin-off formation are provided by the regional infrastructure of the Cambridge,Boston region. In contrast, Yale University, which has an underdeveloped entrepreneurial context, has had to take a more proactive role in providing incubation capabilities to their spin-off projects. This finding supports a contingent based perspective of academic entrepreneurship, whereby low support,low selectivity policies are more fitted to entrepreneurially developed environments, whereas high support,high selectivity policies are more efficient in entrepreneurially underdeveloped environments. [source] On the economic interdependence between China and Japan: Challenges and possibilitiesASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 2 2009Claes G. Alvstam Abstract The paper presents an analysis of the economic relationship between the two most important economies in Asia. Over the last decades, the Chinese and Japanese economies have become more economically interdependent, a development which will, in the long run, impact the countries' political relationship. The paper seeks to answer the question: How can China and Japan gain from the current economic situation, further enhance their relationship and increase their synergies for regional economic development? Data on trade and Foreign Direct Investment are used in combination with primary data from interviews with Japanese and Chinese companies on how they perceive the current business situation and future potential. The result of the data analysis shows that the countries have much to gain from their economic interdependence. The firms see great potential in their respective markets but are concerned about political turbulence. Three possible scenarios for the future economic relationship are presented, including fierce competition on all markets and a leveraging of resources for mutual development between Chinese and Japanese companies. [source] | |||||||||||||