Reassessing European cluster policies: Determinants of effective policy formulation

This paper reviews the interaction of the EU and UK regional policy agendas and raises a number of issues which need further research and need to be kept under continuous review throughout 1998 and 1999. President Santer has set the European Commission two fundamental objectives: strengthening the Union and preparing for enlargement. The new treaty for Europe agreed at Amsterdam has cleared the way for Agenda 2000 which deals with the financial agenda and the reform of the Unions internal policies, especially regional policy and agricultural policy. The paper examines the interaction of the European policy agenda with the new UK regional devolution and Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) agenda following the publication of the RDA White Paper in November 1997. In England, nine new Regional Development Agencies will become fully operational in April 1999 (London in 2000) with a brief to coordinate regional economic development. Shadow boards will be established in November 1998 following Royal Assent of the RDA Bill. It is these RDAs who will be responsible for prioritizing and coordinating the new European programmes post 1999. The paper reviews a number of issues which need further examination for the 2000–2006 period.

Local enterprise companies and rural development

The paper presents the roles played by regional development agencies in the territory of Serbia, which relate to the promotion of regional development and strengthening the competitiveness of the region. An overview of their establishment, operations, missions, and visions for the prosperity of the region is given. Attention is paid to the procedures that must be fulfilled for the regional development agency to receive accreditation and be able to operate successfully. The goal is to consider how regional development agencies influence the stimulation of the entire economy of the region. The interaction between regional development agencies and local self-government units, as well as their relationship with the economy, scientific and professional public, is emphasized. Conditions for evaluation are presented, as well as possibilities for further improvement of work efficiency. The importance of regional development agencies in strengthening cultural life and promoting interregional cooperation was presented. The focus is also on the interactions that exist between regional development agencies, but also on the relationship that the state level of administration has towards their work and operations.

Soumission à Epi-revel International audience The policy and academic debate on industrial clusters has developed in a context dominated by ‘industry champions’ which are not necessarily national. Despite the fact that indust ial dist icts first emerged and indeed were first studied in England by Alfred Marshall over 100 years ago, the spatial dimension of economic activities has in fact been marginal to much of the economic and policy debate in the UK. The idea that industrial clusters could be engines of regional growth was only seriously taken on board in the late 1990s by the newly created Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in England, and by development agencies in Scotland and Wales. Regional and cluster policies were subsequently used as a key part of UK regions’ economic strategies over the late 1990s and 2000s; despite some successes, question marks now remain over their future in England at least given the abolition of RDAs there from 2012. Favouring a supposedly ‘localist’ rather than regional agenda, the coalition Government elected in 2010 has replaced RDAs with smaller-scale Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs) at the sub-regional level. With more limited powers than RDAs and much less funding, time will tell how these LEPs will perform in economic development terms generally and in terms of cluster policies specifically.

In recent years, policy-makers and researchers have identified regional development agencies as the most suitable actors to carry out public tasks. One of these tasks has been the coordination of regional development processes. Both practitioners and researchers argue that legitimacy is a prerequisite for these regional actors to function properly. Although legitimacy is a key issue, little is known about the challenges that arise while producing it. Selecting six regional development agencies in Switzerland and applying an interview-based research method, this explorative study analyses how regional development agencies deal with legitimacy issues. The findings indicate that the main problem with which regional development agencies struggle is not procedural rightfulness but means–end coordination. By proposing a clear distinction between legitimacy and justification, we aim to stimulate the debate on how to operationalize legitimacy and further the discussion of the functioning of regional development agencies. Consequently, we introduce the concept of ‘asymmetric justification’ to the debate on regional development processes in order to shed a light on the functioning of regional development agencies.

In March 2000, BMW announced plans to restructure and sellsubstantial parts of the Rover Group and threatened to close Rovercompletely. In response the government brought together local actorsthrough the West Midlands Regional Development Agency (RDA) andGovernment Office of the West Midlands (GOWM) by setting up the RoverTask Force (RTF). After a local consortium purchased Rover, andLand Rover was sold to Ford, the RTF focused on modernising theauto cluster, diversifying into other clusters, and a regenerationprogramme linking cluster policy with spatial targeting. This paperassesses the role of the RTF as a response to the crisis and explores towhat extent regionally based cluster policies are likely to succeed,using the RTF as an example. Whilst the RDA and GOWM were in a senseable to use the RTF to legitimise and adapt their emerging clusterspolicy, there have been a number of advantages arising from theRTF’s work. However, there are limits to what a resource-constrained RDAcan achieve given the fragmentation of policy delivery in the region,given trends in the auto industry and given the tensions with andincompatibilities of central government policy. The case also raisesthe critical issue of coordination of regionally based cluster policieswhere the cluster in question clearly crosses administrative regionalboundaries.

Part 1 Introduction: regional development agencies - a framework for analysis, M. Danson and H. Halkier European regional development agencies - a survey, H. Halkier and M. Danson. Part 2 RDAs in Western Europe: regional development institutions - a descriptive analysis for Austria, M. Steiner and T. Jud twenty years of participation by RDAs in the Netherlands, W. Sleegers RDAs in Denmark - towards a new type of bottom-up regional policy?, C. Damborg and H. Halkier. Part 3 RDAs in Eastern Europe: RDAs in Poland, G. Gorzelak et al RDAs in the Czech Republic - future solution of current problems, J. Vozab transition, institutions and regional development in Hungary, A. Lorentzen. Part 4 RDAs, regional governance and accountability: changing aspects of the role of RDAs in Flanders, G. Allaert and R. Houthaeve regional development institutions - rural development in the UK, J. Hughes Scottish enterprise - an evaluation of philosophy, policy and programmes, J. Fairley and G. Lloyd regional development and political democracy - democratic planning in an EU context?, J. Olsson. Part 5 RDAs and public-private partnership: institutions, innovation and regional renewal - the development agency as animateur, K. Morgan towards a second generation RDA - the case of ERVET in Emilia-Romagna, N. Bellini et al entrepreneurs and business people in urban growth coalitions - theory and practice of active participation in local endogenous development, D. Kooistra. Part 6 Policies and evaluation: an analysis of RDAs in Spain from the endogenous development perspective, J. Guzman-Cuevas et al RDAs and policies in Northern Ireland - strategies and implementation, M. Finnegan value for money? the effectiveness of regionally-based small firm development agencies, M. Hart et al. Part 7 Perspectives: current and future issues, H. Halkier and M. Danson.

Part 1 Introduction: regional development agencies - a framework for analysis, M. Danson and H. Halkier European regional development agencies - a survey, H. Halkier and M. Danson. Part 2 RDAs in Western Europe: regional development institutions - a descriptive analysis for Austria, M. Steiner and T. Jud twenty years of participation by RDAs in the Netherlands, W. Sleegers RDAs in Denmark - towards a new type of bottom-up regional policy?, C. Damborg and H. Halkier. Part 3 RDAs in Eastern Europe: RDAs in Poland, G. Gorzelak et al RDAs in the Czech Republic - future solution of current problems, J. Vozab transition, institutions and regional development in Hungary, A. Lorentzen. Part 4 RDAs, regional governance and accountability: changing aspects of the role of RDAs in Flanders, G. Allaert and R. Houthaeve regional development institutions - rural development in the UK, J. Hughes Scottish enterprise - an evaluation of philosophy, policy and programmes, J. Fairley and G. Lloyd regional development and political democracy - democratic planning in an EU context?, J. Olsson. Part 5 RDAs and public-private partnership: institutions, innovation and regional renewal - the development agency as animateur, K. Morgan towards a second generation RDA - the case of ERVET in Emilia-Romagna, N. Bellini et al entrepreneurs and business people in urban growth coalitions - theory and practice of active participation in local endogenous development, D. Kooistra. Part 6 Policies and evaluation: an analysis of RDAs in Spain from the endogenous development perspective, J. Guzman-Cuevas et al RDAs and policies in Northern Ireland - strategies and implementation, M. Finnegan value for money? the effectiveness of regionally-based small firm development agencies, M. Hart et al. Part 7 Perspectives: current and future issues, H. Halkier and M. Danson.

Discourses of accountability: Policy scrutiny of an English regional development agency

Part 1 Organizing for regional development in England and Wales: Whitehall, devolution and the English regions the new English regional prject - integrating the work of the RDAs with other elements of regional planning, development and management new regional development agencies in England - wicked issues regional development agencies - the experience of Wales. Part 2 Business change and regional development in the West Midlands: preface to part 2 - an overview of the West Midlands economy the automotive industry - change and challenge for the RDAs towards an innovation-rich regional system for product and process development in rubber and plastics change and development in the business services sector - an emerging regional agenda the ICT industries - corporate behaviour and regional change. Conclusion - some critical issues for regional development agencies in England. Appendix: West Midlands region - history sources.

The business environment in transition countries is often extraordinarily challenging for companies. The transition process these countries find themselves in leads to constant changes in the institutional environment. Hence, institutional voids prevail. These institutional voids cause competitive disadvantages for small and medium enterprises. Cluster policy can address these competitive disadvantages. As cluster policy generally aims at supporting companies’ competitive advantage by spurring innovation and productivity, it can help to bridge institutional voids. This article’s research question aims at analyzing and comparing cluster policies in the institutional context of two transition countries (Serbia and Tunisia) and analyzes to what extent cluster policies in these two countries are adapted to institutional voids prevailing there. The case studies offer insights into apparent difficulties of clusters in bridging formal institutional voids, as well as, notably, into the informal void of skill mismatches in the labor market. Still, for some specific voids, clusters do at least implicitly assume a bridging role. While the cluster policies examined do not explicitly target the institutional voids identified, cluster management can—in the course of time—align its service offering more closely with these voids. Bottom-up designed cluster policies can play an especially important role in such an evolution towards bridging institutional voids.

Cluster policy in the UK, pursued by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), has readily adopted a simplistic definition based upon industrial sectors and location quotients. Evidence drawn from a study of the operating behaviour of SMEs belonging to two traditional manufacturing industries within the West Midlands—automotive components and clothing—provides a critique of this approach. Whilst the automotive components industry has been designated part of a key, high priority cluster, the clothing industry has not. Using case studies from both industries, this paper shows firms both within and outside RDA cluster definitions display a remarkably similar range of behavioural characteristics. Yet, based on weakly defined cluster policy, one industry enjoys considerably more policy support than the other. The paper begins to question the logic of RDA cluster policy and to ask whether a more sophisticated and locally sympathetic manner of visualising clusters and business behaviour rather than an emphasis on employment numbers would have a greater impact for policy.

In recent years regional development disparities in the Czech Republic have been increasing, regional policy and regionalisation have moved up the national political agenda, and considerable regional development resources have become available through EU Structural Funds. The Czech Republic now has more than 18 institutions that describe themselves as Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), with a wide range of policy and practical experience and, in the present climate, they should now be poised to take on a key regional development role. However, their function and position in regional development networks is continually plagued by uncertainty, and they are struggling to fulfil the ‘ideal’ of what an RDA is and what it should do. This article asks why this is the case and examines how domestic and EU policy agendas and actors have influenced the role and function of RDAs in the Czech Republic. Whilst theories such as ‘new regionalism’ suggest that RDAs can lead integrated, bottom-up regional development actions, it is questionable whether Czech RDAs have the capacity to adapt to the type of role that proponents of this approach expect.

This study aims to determine and analyze the influence of leadership style, organizational communication and human resource development partially and simultaneously on employee work performance at the Regional Research and Development Agency of Pangkep Regency, as well as the most dominant variable influencing employee work performance at the Regional Research and Development Agency. Pangkep Regency. The research was conducted at the Regional Research and Development Agency of Pangkep Regency. The research time was November to December 2019 by taking 43 employees as the research sample. The results of this study prove that partially it is proven that leadership style and organizational communication have an effect on work performance, while human resource development is proven to have no effect on work performance. This study also proves that simultaneously leadership style, organizational communication and human resource development affect work performance in the regional research and development agency of Pangkep Regency.This research produces a determination coefficient value of 98.8% which indicates that this research model can explain student decisions. influenced by 77.2% of this research variable and 22.8% influenced by other variables not examined in this study. From the analysis of the three independent / independent variables (leadership style, organizational communication and human resource development), it is found that leadership style (X1) is the most dominant factor influencing the work performance of the employees of the Regional Research and Development Agency of Pangkep Regency.

To achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the support for the internationalization of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) for inclusive and sustainable growth needs improvement. Decided to accomplish these global goals, many regional governments have established regional public agencies aiming at increasing MSME competitiveness. In the area of internationalization, regional governments have created Regional Export Promotion Agencies (REPA), which are a type of Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) that has been implemented, for instance, in all Spanish regions. However, we found a gap in the literature since there is not enough evidence on the utility of the services provided by TPOs. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore how a REPA interacts with firms when they internationalize and cooperates with the corresponding Regional Development Agency (RDA) during this process. The preliminary findings suggest that a better coordination between both Regional Agencies is required. In addition, further financial measures to support firms in the first stages of the internationalization processes as well as an improvement of communication activities to increase awareness of the services offered are demanded by the firms.