Collaborative Policy Making and Administration: The Operational Demands of Local Economic Development

Abstract

Contemporary local economic development often requires that development professionals act as catalysts for orchestrating other governmental and nongovernmental actors in the pursuit of effective development policy strategies. Collaboration and cooperation across multiple actors, organizations, and governments is now the standard modus operandi for many municipalities. The empirical analysis presented here indicates that the process of designing and administering local economic development policy may vary according to the types of policies and institutions adopted in the jurisdiction. Findings suggest that the adoption of certain development policies and institutions may actually induce collaboration in cities. Local economic development, thus, places demands on the development professional that are more visible and perhaps more consequential than in years past.