Economic Development In England Research Articles

Micro-community engagement and area-based regeneration in east London: The case of Chrisp Street Market

Abstract This paper critically engages with how the notion of community is used in local economic development in England. Its primary concern is how current understandings of the concept of ‘community’ in regeneration, as well as how it is instrumentalised through ineffective community engagement, is depicted as a linear and homogeneous construct. This paper addresses how this is a result of a tension between historic neoliberal urban policy and communitarian approaches to local engagement which can often result in tokenistic community engagement practices. This in turn can have serious and adverse effects on localities as local area-based regeneration projects materialise. This paper argues that an approach based on understanding communities as made up of a number of micro-communities might be more useful in a regeneration context. It examines an initiative called the Chrisp Street Exchange led by a local regeneration team called Accents tasked to be at the frontline. The paper outlines Accents' strategies of delivering community engagement as an example of a micro-communities approach. It then suggests that while Accents might not be able to stem the tide of market forces, they can at least deliver engagement approaches that might be able to prepare micro-communities, in this case a local small business micro-community, for the impending change that has landed in this part of east London.

Toward understanding 17th century English culture: A structural topic model of Francis Bacon's ideas

We use machine-learning methods to study the features and origins of the ideas of Francis Bacon, a key figure who provided the intellectual roots of a cultural paradigm that spurred modern economic development. Bacon's works are the data in an estimation of a structural topic model, a recently developed methodology for analysis of text corpora. The estimates uncover sixteen topics prominent in Bacon's opus. Two are key elements of the ideas usually associated with Bacon—inductive epistemology and fact-seeking. The utilitarian promise of science and the centralized organization of the scientific quest, embraced by Bacon's followers, were not emphasized by him. Using strategic communication, Bacon facilitated reception of his scientific methodology, targeted influential groups, and finessed powerful opponents. We provide the first quantitative evidence that the genesis of Bacon's epistemology lies in his experience in the common-law. Combining our findings with accepted arguments in the existing literature, we suggest that the effects of common-law culture can help explain the coincidence of early political and economic development in England.

A Structural Topic Model of the Features and the Cultural Origins of the Baconian Program

We use machine-learning methods to study the features and origins of the ideas of Francis Bacon, a key figure who contributed to the intellectual roots of a cultural paradigm that spurred modern economic development. Bacon's works are the data in an estimation of a structural topic model, a state-of-the-art methodology for analysis of text corpora. The estimates uncover sixteen topics prominent in Bacon's opus. Two are key elements of the ideas usually associated with Bacon--inductive epistemology and fact-seeking. The utilitarian promise of science and the centralized organization of the scientific quest, embraced by Bacon's followers, were not emphasized by him. We provide the first quantitative evidence that the genesis of Bacon's epistemology lies in his experience in the common-law. Combining our findings with accepted arguments in the existing literature, we suggest that the effects of common-law culture can help explain the coincidence of political and economic development in England.

Aligning vertical structures and horizontal relationships: collaborative leadership and accountability mechanisms to enhance economic growth in England

This article explores vertical and horizontal dimensions of the work of public, private and civic leaders involved in economic development in England, in particular, those working in the complex terrain of Local Enterprise Partnerships, a key partnership tool in the UK central government’s localism agenda for driving growth. It offers insights into innovative ways in which state, non-state and citizen agents navigate a complex set of vertical, legal authority structures within fragmented, horizontal and largely informal new ‘spaces’ of interactions/interrelationships to collaboratively co-produce strategies and plans for transforming local areas. To advance our knowledge of collaborative leadership requires new methodological approaches to investigating multi-accountabilities and how co-production works within ‘loosely coupled’ networks. It is imperative to appreciate the problems associated with leadership working across sectoral boundaries within complex networks of vertical, legal structures and horizontal, informal action spaces. In such networks, leaders, as institutional representatives, work collaboratively to achieve objectives not readily attainable by member organisations acting alone. They also need to compromise and negotiate their representative role back to a parent organisation while protecting and promoting the priorities, aims and interests of the new entity, in this case, a Local Enterprise Partnership. Theoretically, then, the article is located in recent debates on the theory and practice of New Public Governance, to show the inadequacies of New Public Management models for capturing the complexities between formal authority structures and fragmented informal sets of relationships. It also draws on accountability models, notably, from the Utrecht School, to identify social relations between collaborative leaders on Local Enterprise Partnerships, and to show how they assert agency and individual actions within the boundaries of participating institutions.Points for practitionersThe findings should benefit professionals, public managers and policymakers in understanding formal and informal linkages on partnerships for economic development. The article should facilitate an appreciation of the importance of greater accountability for actions in cross-boundary working. Moreover, in exploring vertical and horizontal dimensions of public, private and civic leadership in the complex terrain of Local Enterprise Partnerships, the findings show their feasibility as key vehicles to develop collaborative, co-produced strategies in transforming sub-national localities.

Merchant Courts, Arbitration, and the Politics of Commercial Litigation in the Eighteenth-Century British Empire

John Locke worried that the common law was bad for business. Although he recognized the political importance of common law institutions such as juries, he also thought that the cumbersome procedures of English courts might hamper economic development in England and its colonies. The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which Locke helped draft in 1669, tried to reconcile these competing political and economic concerns. Although the Constitutions guaranteed “Freemen” a right to trial by jury, the document also provided for specialized judges in port towns to “try cases belonging to [the] law-merchant.” These commercial judges would allow merchants to settle their disputes “as shall be most convenient for trade,” rather than by the expensive formality of the common law.

Evaluating the transition from Regional Development Agencies to Local Economic Partnerships: The views of SMEs in the British West Midlands

After the election of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition in 2010, the UK Government instituted a radical reorganisation of governance structures for subnational economic development in England. This involved the abolition of Regional Development Agencies and the introduction of Local Enterprise Partnerships, defined as ‘joint local authority-business bodies brought forward by groups of local authorities to support local economic development across “functional economies”’ ( Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2010 : 10). This article contributes to the debate about Local Enterprise Partnerships through an exploration and analysis of the views of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with regard to lessons to be learned from the old Regional Development Agency system and the transition to the new Local Enterprise Partnership system. Empirically, it focuses on the experiences of digital media firms in the West Midlands region (and now in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership). The article draws on desk research and in-depth interviews with Regional Development Agencies and Local Authority employees involved in economic development, industry representatives and business support organisations, in addition to interviews with small and medium enterprise owners and self-employed consultants/freelancers. The research reported here adopted a longitudinal approach with four rounds of interviews between 2010 and 2013. Overall, disruption to publicly funded networks was seen as a significant cost of institutional change between Regional Development Agencies and Local Enterprise Partnerships. Valued functions of the Regional Development Agency were its role in increasing the visibility and coherence of the digital media sector and supporting networking. However, the SMEs reported considerable uncertainty regarding the role of the Local Enterprise Partnership and were concerned about the loss of well-functioning programmes and institutional support structures.

Local economic strategy development under Regional Development Agencies and Local Enterprise Partnerships: Applying the lens of the multiple streams framework

Following the decision to abolish the Regional Development Agencies in England by the newly elected Coalition Government in 2010, Local Enterprise Partnerships were introduced to drive economic development at a local level. However, the limited government prescription as to both the form and function of Local Enterprise Partnerships has contributed to a fundamental ambiguity as to their roles and ‘legitimate spheres’ of activity. In the context of this ambiguity, this article uses Kingdon’s multiple streams framework to consider the challenges faced by Regional Development Agencies and Local Enterprise Partnerships in developing effective economic development strategies. With a focus on the East Midlands region of England, the article identifies the dimensions of strategic capability that Local Enterprise Partnerships must develop if they are to mature as effective agents of local economic development in England.

Richard Britnell, Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1500. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. xviii + 330pp. £90.00 hbk. - Mark Bailey and Stephen Rigby (eds.), Town and Countryside in the Age of the Black Death: Essays in Honour of John Hatcher. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. xxxvii + 472pp. 3 maps. 58 figures. 34 tables. €110.00 hbk.

Richard Britnell, Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1500. Farnham: Ashgate, 2009. xviii + 330pp. £90.00 hbk. - Mark Bailey and Stephen Rigby (eds.), Town and Countryside in the Age of the Black Death: Essays in Honour of John Hatcher. Turnhout: Brepols, 2012. xxxvii + 472pp. 3 maps. 58 figures. 34 tables. €110.00 hbk. - Volume 40 Issue 3

Prospects for local economic development in the north of England under the coalition

Britain's coalition government, elected in 2010, is making radical changes to the institutions for local economic development in England, scrapping New Labour's Regional Development Agencies and setting up weak, non-statutory Local Enterprise Partnerships. However, sharp regional differences remain between the North and the South, and the new arrangements are unlikely to achieve the coalition's avowed aim of rebalancing the economy.

Markets, trade and economic development in England and Europe, 1050–1550 – By Richard H. Britnell

Markets, trade and economic development in England and Europe, 1050–1550 – By Richard H. Britnell

Muslims in Great Britain: Dynamics of Population Size and Transformation of Society

The paper of A.R. Ayupova deals with answers of Muslim communities in Great Britain to challenges of the modern globalizing world. In the twentieth century Muslim diaspora in the country changed a lot. First, its identity was much influenced by colonial legacy of the British Empire. Massive immigration was caused first by reasons of economic development in England of the mid-twentieth century. From the 1980s British Muslim population increased due to political immigrant flows from the Middle East and other Asian and African countries of the Third World. In the 1990s 68,000 immigrants are estimated to have been installed in Great Britain. In diaspora they formed communities according to their ethnic, confessional and regional origin. Adherents of Islam constitute today the second largest confession after Christianity. Transformation of Muslim diaspora is going on.

Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050-1550

Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050-1550

In-migration, entrepreneurship and rural–urban interdependencies: The case of East Cleveland, North East England

In-migration is a key influence in the process of rural economic development in England, Continental Europe and the US. New arrivals are often viewed in the literature as contributors in new venture creation, as well as catalysts in enhancing rural–urban interdependencies in the countryside. This paper sets out to explore the validity of this view in the case of East Cleveland: a rural area with a tradition of mining and industry, occupying the coastal fringe of the Tees Valley city-region. In doing so, the paper compares this locality with other parts of rural England in order to draw some wider conclusions. Particular emphasis is placed on comparisons with Cumbria, where comparable data are available. The paper argues that the impact of in-migration on the conditions of supply of entrepreneurship is cumulative rather than transformational. This means that it is particularly profound in localities with strong opportunity nexus, reinforcing favourable demand side conditions. However, the ability of in-migrant entrepreneurs to influence rural–urban interdependencies in areas with weak opportunity nexus (such as East Cleveland) is modest.

Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1550 (by Richard Britnell)

<i>Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1550</i> (by Richard Britnell)

Richard Britnell, Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1550. (Variorum Collected Studies Series, 918.) Farnham, Eng., and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2009. Pp. xviii, 330, numbered nonconsecutively; black-and-white frontispiece portrait, tables, and maps. $134.95.

Richard Britnell, <i>Markets, Trade and Economic Development in England and Europe, 1050–1550</i>. (Variorum Collected Studies Series, 918.) Farnham, Eng., and Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2009. Pp. xviii, 330, numbered nonconsecutively; black-and-white frontispiece portrait, tables, and maps. $134.95.

The state and uneven development: the governance of economic development in England in the post-devolution UK

This paper draws upon territorial and relational approaches as well as work on the economics and politics of devolution to argue that a geographically sensitive political economy of the 'qualitative state' can interpret the roles, structures, strategies and practices of states in attempting to resolve the governance of uneven development. An empirical analysis of the UK state's governance of economic development within England reveals the construction of enabling frameworks at the national level and, in the wake of regionalization and regionalism, the encouragement of new 'spatial imaginaries' (cities and/or city-regions, localisms and pan-regionalisms). The result has been complexity, experimentation, fragmentation and incoherence with largely negative implications for territorial equity and justice. We conclude by reflecting upon the limits of projects of state decentralization and spatial policy under a strong national economic growth orientation in addressing the governance of uneven development. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the role of environmental quality in the sustainable rural economic development of England

The issue of the sustainable development of rural economies in England has recently received considerable attention. This is because many of the poorest areas in the country are rural, often of high environmental quality, but suffering from high unemployment and a lack of services and facilities. The rapid decline in agricultural incomes and in-migration of affluent urban workers since 1990 has exacerbated economic inequality in such areas. A number of factors have the potential to drive rural development and this paper applies, and considers, the feasibility of a method from the USA for combining economic and environmental variables in a regional growth model to examine the hypothesis that environmental quality is an important determinant of sustainable rural development in England. The model output suggests that, although environmental quality does play a role in sustainable rural development in England there are other, more important, factors driving development. These include business and communications infra-structure, the degree and opportunities for commuting and underlying employment prospects. The robustness and limitations of the method for combining economic and environmental variables is discussed in relation to the spatial interrelatedness of Local Authority Districts in England, and conclusions are drawn about areas for refinement and improvement of the method.

Great Expectations: Museums and Regional Economic Development in England

This polemic addresses the political expectations of museums in England. Its starting point is the premise of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that museums make a significant contribution to regional economies, if not to the national economy. Political expediency requires museums to provide evidence for their economic worth. But it could be argued that estimates of museums' economic impact are devalued by being blatantly constructed for the purposes of advocacy. This paper explores various issues that inform the practice of associating museums with economic development. It considers whether the government's cultural policies and aspirations have served to misrepresent (if not exaggerate) the economic impact that museums currently exert, or are deemed capable of exerting. It closes by suggesting that there are some ambiguities in the commitment of the DCMS to the premise that museums are economically important, and by examining implications for the future.

Did Turnpike Trusts Increase Transportation Investment in Eighteenth-Century England?

Turnpike trusts were private organizations that financed road improvements by levying tolls and issuing mortgage debt. They were established by Acts of Parliament throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early nineteenth centuries. The acts transferred authority from parishes to a body of trustees, composed of local landowners and merchants. Parishes financed road improvements with local property taxes; but they could not levy tolls. This article uses a new data set to show that turnpike trusts increased road expenditure, rather than replacing existing or forthcoming parish expenditure. It also illustrates how institutional changes contributed to the process of economic development in England.

Local Government and the Changing Institutional Landscape of Economic Development in England and Wales

This paper assesses the response by local authorities to the new institutional structure introduced in England and Wales since 1997: of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), the Welsh Assembly and Welsh Development Agency (WDA), subregional partnerships, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Education and Learning Wales (ELWa), and local government new well-being and Best Value initiatives. The paper demonstrates, using new survey evidence, that RDAs are beginning to promote a regional framework for local organizations, but the strategic impact is limited to county, unitary, and metropolitan areas, which are focused heavily on programme delivery. More generally, regional strategy inputs have added yet another dimension to local government partnerships. RDAs are not yet, therefore, the strategic bodies for all areas that was originally planned. Regional Chambers and the Welsh Assembly have weak influence on local government and are not yet effective monitoring bodies on the RDAs/WDA. Subregional partnerships offer potential for regional-local government strategy, but are chiefly involved in programme design (especially for regeneration) and their future importance appears limited. The transfer from TECs to the LSC/ELWa has had much less impact than expected: local government was already leader and financier of most of the projects in which TECs were involved. However, a reduction in level of activity, effectiveness, and resources has occurred for most projects in England, though to a lesser extent in Wales. Overall, the paper demonstrates that as yet changes in institutions have produced little real changes in how economic development occurs or how local government operates. The complexity and fragmentation of economic development institutions by government, on balance, appear to have increased rather than diminished.