1,720,979 research outputs found
The political economy of adaptation and resilience in old industrial regions :a comparative study of South Saarland and Teesside
Full text linkPhD ThesisThis project aims to make a conceptual, methodological and empirical contribution to the burgeoning field of Evolutionary Perspectives in Economic Geography. To date, Evolutionary Perspectives have tended to underplay the role of the state and macro-institutions, and how notions of agency, power, and scale feature in the evolution of a regional economy. This thesis draws upon Geographical Political Economy to develop an Evolutionary Perspective that is more sensitive to these concerns. In particular, I have focussed on aspects of policy and governance in the long-term adaptation and resilience of old industrial regions coping with disruptive structural change. Based on the Path Dependency perspective – which within Evolutionary Perspectives seems best suited to theorise aspects of policy and governance - I have developed an analytical framework and detailed a methodology of ‘deep contextualisation’, to understand (1) how policies and institutions evolve over time, (2) what role they play in long-term adaptation and resilience, and (3) how this may be shaped by the wider institutional environment. This framework and methodology (with these three distinct levels of analysis) was subsequently used to study and compare two cases: the old steel regions of South Saarland in Germany, and Teesside in the United Kingdom. These regions both experienced a crisis in their economies in the 1970s and 1980s. South Saarland has been able to adapt successfully, whereas Teesside continues to struggle. The study presents compelling evidence that this has to a considerable extent been a result of (1) different priorities and consistency in the policies implemented, (2) the more robust governance arrangements present in South Saarland compared to Teesside, and (3) the federal government structure and more cooperative form of capitalism in Germany, which appears to have been more conducive for long-term resilience than the centralist structure and more liberal model in the United Kingdom
New directions in researching regional economic resilience and adaptation
No full textThe paper has two objectives. Firstly, to disentangle several debates with regard to regional economic resilience: What is it exactly? Which types can we distinguish? How can we operationalise it? And how can we conceptualise how it works? The second objective is to outline new directions for researching regional economic resilience. Thus far, research on regional economic resilience has been dominated by quantitative studies looking at how regional economies resisted and recovered from macro-economic downturns (especially the most recent one). I will argue that fruitful new directions are to be found in further developing evolutionary conceptions of regional economic resilience, especially in relation to structural changes in the wider economy. Such evolutionary conceptions do away with notions of equilibrium altogether, and can thus encompass the complete transformation of regional economies. In terms of research focus, this entails homing in on the possible mechanisms through which the processes of reorganisation and reorientation take place within regional economies that undergo adaptation. And in terms of research methodology, this will require more research based on a comparative case study design, using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods
Institutional change in cities and regions:: A path dependency approach
No full textThis article aims to make significant advances in the development of a path dependency approach to understanding institutional change at the subnational level in the context of economic development. This approach allows for a differentiated treatment of various types of institutions. Moreover, the approach can also take account of the structures and processes at various levels of scale, as well as the role of agency in bringing about change. These points are illustrated and developed by an examination and comparison of institutional change in the governance arrangements in the city-regions of Saarland (Germany) and Teesside (United Kingdom) since the 1970s
Evolutionary perspectives on economic resilience in regional development
No full textIn this chapter we will discuss how the mechanisms and drivers of regional economic resilience can be theorised using Evolutionary Approaches in Economic Geography. We focus on Evolutionary Approaches, which draw from three main theoretical frameworks: Generalised Darwinism, Complexity Theory, and Path Dependency. We will review each of the three frameworks with regard to their understanding of regional economic resilience, with particular attention to their treatment of the roles of agency, institutions and multi-scalar processes. We conclude that the Path Dependency approach – so far relatively neglected in debates on regional resilience – offers the greatest theoretical insight into these interrelated domains and provides the basis for a more comprehensive evolutionary resilience research agenda
Growing apart? Structural transformation and the uneven development of British cities
Full text linkStructural change is now widely considered to be an important aspect of national economic growth. The issue is not only relevant at the macro-economic level, but also has a direct bearing on the growth of regions and cities. In this article, we examine the relationship between structural transformation and economic (output) growth across British cities over the last half-century. During this time, the British economy has gone through a series of extensive structural transformations, most notably a historical shift from an industrial to a post-industrial structure. But also within the dominant ‘post-industrial’ economy, some service activities have been growing at a faster rate and appear to be more dynamic than others. We show how the structural transformations in the national economy have played out quite differently across British cities, shaping to a considerable extent their divergent growth trajectories over the past five decades. At a broad level, it is possible to distinguish between a number of distinct growth groups of cities, and these also display significant differences in the extent and direction of structural change and reorientation. While differences in structural change have been important in shaping city growth paths, other ‘city-specific’ factors also appear to have exerted an influence, and thus require investigation. Despite the importance of structural change on the growth trajectories of British cities, the most comprehensive analysis was undertaken some 30 years ago (see Hausner, 1987). This article seeks to fill this lacuna in knowledge
The city dimension of the productivity growth puzzle: the relative role of structural change and within-sector slowdown
Full text linkAcross OECD countries productivity growth has slowed, not just in recent yearsbut over the past four decades: the so-called productivity puzzle. This paper examines the differing productivity growth paths of some 85 British cities since the beginning of the 1970s, and explores how far these paths reflect differences across cities in the pace and nature of structural change. We find that while northern cities led productivity growth over 1971-91 southern cities then led after 1991. However, at the same time, the rate of productivity growth slowed across almost all cities between these two periods. We find evidence of considerable structural convergence across cities and a general tendency for the degree of specialisation to fall. This then leads to a decomposition analysis which identifies the relative contribution of between-sector (structural change) and within-sector effects to city productivity growth. The analysis reveals that that structural change – and especially the shift from manufacturing to services ‐ has had a negative impact on productivity growth across all cities, but that within-sector productivity developments while positive and outweighing structural change effects, have also declined over the past 45 years, as well as varying across cities. These findings point to the need for further research on the causes of this slowdown in ‘within-sector ‘productivity growth and why those causes appear to differ from city to city. They also point to the need for a ‘place-based’ dimension to policies aimed at improving national productivity performance.<br/
Renewing industrial regions? Advanced manufacturing and industrial policy in Britain
No full textThe UK’s industrial strategy, with local variants, aims to support manufacturing in ‘traditional industrial regions’ (TIRs). Using novel data for advanced manufacturing (AM) industries over several decades, we examine long-term changes in their geography by regions and local authority districts. These industries have shifted away from large urban regions, and local authority districts in TIRs have lost ground relative to those in other regions, although there are variations between industries. Foreign direct investment has tended to locate in non-TIR locations. AM industries have not shifted decisively towards research-intensive regions. We consider the implications for policy initiatives seeking to spark clusters around innovation districts.</p
The Covid-19 crisis and manufacturing: How should national and local industrial strategies respond?
No full textThe ongoing Covid-19 crisis and recession represent one of the biggest shocks to the UK manufacturing ecosystem yet, and comes at a time when the ecosystem was already in a worrying situation after decades of deindustrialisation, a decade of austerity and an impending ‘Brexit’. The effects of this shock will also be unevenly felt due to the geography of the UK manufacturing ecosystem, amplifying the need for a successful response to ensure that places are not left (further) behind. This paper assesses the pre-Covid-19 ecosystem to ascertain the areas and industries likely to be particularly impacted by the crisis, and to understand existing issues. These issues are important to consider due to the implications for choosing strategies moving forward, for which two are appraised here. First, the reshoring of supply chains is considered in light of recent government comments, but difficulties in implementation may arise due to the highly fragmented nature of UK policy frameworks. Second, an acceleration of the ‘grand challenges’ approach is likely but limited by issues of connectivity in the ecosystem and small and medium-sized firm disengagement. We suggest that any strategy moving forward must strike a balance between such strategies
- …
