Regional Economic Development Strategies Research Articles

The Factor Analysis of Energy Efficiency Based on Technological Progress, the Changes of Industrial Structure and the Living Consumption

Energy efficiency is one important index of a regional economic and social sustainable development strategy. To find some original factors influenced on the energy efficiency, we used energy data concerned during 1996-2008 in China and calculated the efficiency data in Laspeyres Decomposition, then analyzed the factors' influence values and energy efficiency's developing trend, at last, put forward the strategic advice. The data showed that energy intensity has declined from 1996 to 2008, and energy intensity change was mainly affected by technological progress factors. Except for 2002 to 2003, the energy intensity was declining in rest periods, and the factor of technological progress and the factor of the drop in life consumption have been playing positive roles to the decrease in the energy intensity, while the unreasonable industrial structure change had a negative effect on the decrease in the energy intensity.

Analysis of Weifang City’s Economic Development Competence According to Certain Economic Materials

Urban economy has been deemed to be the leading power for regional economic and social development and it has everything to do with citizen income increase, local financial strengthen and organizational economic vigor. Weifang has a sound geographic position for it shares the common border of coastal and inland cities, which is beneficial to the whole provincial economic development. AHP methodology is applied to construct the evaluation system for urban economic development competence and an index system developed out of it is employed to compare the economic development competence from 2005 to 2009. Finally, the analysis of problems and weaknesses occurred thereby in the past five years is made, accompanied by constructive comments and suggestions. In recent years, rapid development has made Weifang among the tops in total economic volume in Shandong.To research Weifang’s economic development competence, to clarify Weifang’s regional economic development strategy, and to seize the opportunity to develop Weifang are meaningful to Weifang and Shandong.This article uses multiple statistic methods and social economic statistic software SPSS to standardize the indexes of Weifang from 2005 to 2009. It uses AHP to calculate each index’s weight, and gets the final comprehensive score of its economic development competence, on the basis of which it analyze Weifang’s economy and find the weak points so as to strengthen its economic development competence by giving relative suggestions.

A Framework for Conducting a Situational Analysis of the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions Sector

This article reviews the key literature that is currently available regarding the meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions sector, its composition, and current trends and issues that are occurring within the sector and the tourism industry generally, and more specifically, within the Auckland region. The meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions sector is a vital component of the tourism industry within the Auckland region. The sector can assist the region in achieving the objectives of both the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy and the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2015. At this time, very little is known about the structure of the sector, visitorship for meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions purposes, or issues and trends of the Auckland region. Similarly, there has been no formal strategic planning undertaken for the sector. Without informed forward planning, it is unlikely that the sector will meet its full potential. The article reviews the current literature regarding meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions and strategic planning. From this literature, a framework has been developed for collecting the data required to conduct a comprehensive situational analysis of the Auckland meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions sector. This framework and the process by which it is currently being utilized within the Auckland region is outlined.

Regional Economic Types and Development Strategy of Small Towns in Suburb Beijing

The purpose of this article is to classify the regional economic types and development dynamics of small towns in suburb Beijing by applying the classification methods developed by Nelson’s method ...

‘Rooms and moments’ in neoliberalising policy trajectories of metropolitan Auckland, New Zealand: Towards constituting progressive spaces through post‐structural political economy

AbstractThis paper seeks to open up what economic geographers think they can do as academics engaging in the policy realm. It draws on the author's role as an academic and his policy persona as academic expert and academic with expertise that has been guided by post‐structural political economy (PSPE) thinking. It is Auckland‐centred, situated in three trajectories: PSPE thought and practice developing at the University of Auckland, the Auckland Regional Economic Development Strategy (AREDS) trajectory of the Auckland Regional Council and Auckland City Council's sustainability trajectory. The paper recovers in PSPE terms dimensions of two 2006 policy moments, those of the Metropolitan Auckland Project (MAP) and the Mayoral Taskforce on Sustainable Development (MTSD), in which the author participated. Placing intellectual (PSPE) and policy trajectories (growth and sustainability) into conversation allows a unique exploration of co‐constitutive dimensions between academy and policy worlds. Conceptually and methodologically, the moments in the policy trajectories are accessed by (i) analytic description of the policy trajectory from the outside in terms of academic understandings of institutional processes and (ii) in‐the‐room deliberations about policy decision possibilities. New insights about academy‐policy relations emerge from the PSPE focus on rooms and moments.

The Challenges of Pursuing Cluster Policy in the Congested State

AbstractIn recent years cluster policy has become a central component of regional economic development strategy across many European economies. However, concerns are now emerging over the content and quality of some of these initiatives. Given the prevalence of the approach, these apprehensions are non‐trivial and have significant implications with regard to the value and contribution of regional economic development. Here we examine the extent to which weaknesses in the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the cluster approach may have acted in combination with pressures generated by the ‘congested state’ to produce a number of difficulties. The essay explores the nature, challenges and weaknesses of cluster policy in the context of the demands created by multi‐level and multi‐actor governance frameworks. We conclude that, irrespective of whether cluster policy is the appropriate choice as an economic development tool in any particular regional or economic circumstance, its selection always necessitates prior consideration of the institutional capacity needed to meet the governance challenges that it creates.Resumé La ‘politique des clusters’ est récemment devenue une composante essentielle de la stratégie de développement économique régional dans de nombreux pays d’Europe. Toutefois, des questions se posent actuellement quant à la teneur et à la qualité de certaines de ces initiatives. L’approche étant souvent adoptée, ces appréhensions, dignes d’intérêt, ont d’importantes répercussions sur la valeur et la contribution du développement économique régional. Cette étude examine dans quelle mesure les faiblesses des bases théoriques et méthodologiques de l’approche des ‘clusters’, combinées aux pressions imposées par un « Etat congestionné », peuvent avoir généré plusieurs difficultés. Sont explorés la nature, les défis et les faiblesses de la politique des clusters dans le cadre des exigences suscitées par un environnement de gouvernance à plusieurs niveaux impliquant plusieurs acteurs. En conclusion, que la politique des clusters soit ou non l’option à choisir en tant qu’outil d’expansion économique dans une situation régionale ou économique donnée, son choix exige toujours une étude préalable de la capacité institutionnelle nécessaire pour résoudre les problèmes de gouvernance qu’il crée.

Using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to Identify National Industry Cluster Templates for Applied Regional Analysis

Kelton C. M. L., Pasquale M. K. and Rebelein R. P. Using the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to identify national industry cluster templates for applied regional analysis, Regional Studies. Whereas Feser and Bergman developed the concept of national-level cluster templates and introduced a systematic methodology to identify such clusters, their technique and results were based on the now-outdated Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system for categorizing industries. The paper updates their results using the 1997 Benchmark Input–Output Accounts for the USA, which are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Since the treatment of services is much more comprehensive under NAICS, the paper expands on the Feser and Bergman manufacturing templates to identify more comprehensive mixed-sector templates. The cluster templates determined can provide a foundation for regional economic development strategies. Kelton C. M. L., Pasquale M. K. et Rebelein R. P. L'emploi des NAICS afin d'identifier des modèles de grappes nationales industrielles pour l'analyse régionale appliquée, Regional Studies. Alors que Feser et Bergman ont développé la notion de modèles de grappes sur le plan national et ont avancé une méthodologie systématique afin d'identifier de telles grappes, leur technique et leurs résultats ont été fondés sur le classement industriel SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) qui est aujourd'hui dépassé. A partir des Benchmark Input–Output Accounts (tableau repère des échanges inter-industriels) pour les E-U et fondés sur la NAICS (North American Industry Classification System), on remet à jour leurs résultats. Vu que le traitement des services est beaucoup plus détaillé selon le classement NAICS, on peut développer les modèles industriels de Feser et Bergman afin d'identifier des modèles sectoriels mixtes plus détaillés. Les modèles de grappes ainsi déterminés pourraient fournir un point de départ pour les stratégies d'aménagement du territoire. Grappes et liens industriels Aménagement du territoire Kelton C. M. L., Pasquale M. K. und Rebelein R. P. Identifizierung nationaler Branchencluster-Vorlagen zur angewandten Regionalanalyse mit Hilfe des NAICS, Regional Studies. Feser und Bergman entwickelten das Konzept von Clustervorlagen auf nationaler Ebene und führten zur Identifizierung dieser Cluster eine systematische Methodologie ein. Allerdings stützten sich ihre Technik und Ergebnisse auf das inzwischen veraltete Branchenkategorisierungsschema der Standard Industrial Classification (SIC). Wir aktualisieren ihre Ergebnisse mit Hilfe der Benchmark-Input–Output-Konten für die USA, die auf dem Klassifikationsschema North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) beruhen. Im NAICS werden Dienstleistungen in weitaus stärkerem Maße berücksichtigt, weshalb wir die Produktionsvorlagen von Feser und Bergman weiterentwickeln können, um umfassendere Vorlagen mit gemischten Sektoren zu identifizieren. Die von uns entwickelten Clustervorlagen können als Grundlage für Strategien zur regionalen Wirtschaftsentwicklung dienen. Branchencluster und Verknüpfungen Regionalentwicklungspolitik Kelton C. M. L., Pasquale M. K. y Rebelein R. P. Identificación de las plantillas de aglomeración de la industrial nacional para el análisis regional aplicado mediante SCIAN, Regional Studies. Feser y Bergman desarrollaron el concepto de plantillas de aglomeración a nivel nacional e introdujeron una metodología sistemática para identificar estas aglomeraciones. Sin embargo, su técnica y resultados para clasificar las industrias estaban basados en el ahora ya desfasado sistema de Clasificación Estándar Industrial (código de SIC). Nosotros hemos actualizado sus resultados con ayuda del modelo de análisis comparativo de entrada-salida de 1997 para los Estados Unidos, basado en el sistema de clasificación industrial de América del Norte (SCIAN). Dado que el tratamiento de los servicios es mucho más completo en el SCIAN, podemos ampliar las plantillas de fabricación de Feser y Bergman para identificar plantillas del sector mixto más exhaustivas. Las plantillas de aglomeración que hemos determinado pueden cimentar las bases para las estrategias de desarrollo en la economía regional. Aglomeraciones y vínculos industriales Política de desarrollo regional

Cultural political economy: On making the cultural turn without falling into soft economic sociology

This article explores the implications of making the cultural turn in the engagement of economic and political geography with issues of political economy. It seeks to steer a path between a fetishistic, reified economics that naturalizes economic categories and a soft economic sociology that focuses on the similarities between economic and other socio-cultural activities at the expense of the specificity of the economic. We show how combining critical semiotic analysis with an evolutionary and institutional approach to political economy offers one interesting way to achieve this goal. An evolutionary and institutional approach to semiosis enables us to recognize the semiotic dimensions of political economy at the same time as establishing how and why only some economic imaginaries among the many that circulate actually come to be selected and institutionalized; and Marxian political economy enables us to identify the contradictions and conflicts that make capital accumulation inherently improbable and crisis-prone, creating the space for economic imaginaries to play a role in stabilizing accumulation in specific spatio-temporal fixes and/or pointing the way forward from recurrent crises. The paper illustrates these arguments with a case study on the Flemish ‘anchoring strategy’ as a specific regional economic development strategy. It concludes with a set of guidelines for the further development of cultural political economy.

Is Auckland an entrepreneurial or global city?

Considerable debate has been generated in the literature surrounding the issue of competitive, global and entrepreneurial cities. The same literature has been less forthcoming with clear and concise definitions for these terms. Because of the effects of globalisation, we know that cities and regions have become the key focus of policies to enhance economic development. Few world cities can be classified as global and even fewer can be designated as entrepreneurial. Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, has developed a regional economic development strategy (AREDS) designed to 'raise the bar' and transform the greater Auckland region into a competitive, global entrepreneurial city. Is AREDS moving Auckland towards being a competitive entrepreneurial or global city? This paper reviews the relevant literature, defines the terms and delineates the requirements for a city to be competitive. Preliminary research indicates that movement has only just begun.

National and local agency support for Scottish SME internationalisation activity: lessons for small transition economies

This paper identifies the continuing and new threats to peripheral old industrial areas from EU enlargement and restructuring of inward investment flows. It recognises a key role in regional and national economic development strategies has been assigned to indigenous small and medium enterprises. Research is reported on interventions and frameworks established by national and local agencies in Scotland to initiate and develop export activities by SMEs. This offers a better understanding of which factors create successful foreign market entry strategies and behaviour. The paper assesses whether there are lessons from these strategies which are appropriate for the new member states of the EU.

Evaluating the Economic Benefits from Tourism Spending through Input-Output Frameworks: Issues and Cases

The paper examines the economic effects of tourism spending within the framework of a regional Input-Output table augmented with a tourism satellite account. Two case studies from the Welsh economy illustrate the use of Input-Output tables to analyse the effects of tourism spending. The cases examined are the 2000 Brecon Jazz Festival, and the 1999 Rugby World Cup. In each case the effects of tourism spending are analysed in the context of varying regional economic conditions and constraints. Conclusions highlight the value of tourism satellite accounts as an aid to economic and policy planning at a time when tourism-led initiatives gain importance in regional economic development strategies.

Trust and Networking in Inter-firm Relations: the Case of Eco-industrial Development

Despite much rhetoric concerning the implementation of sustainable development within local and regional economic development strategies, very few concrete examples exist of projects that combine economic, social and environmental aims. However, recently, a number of developments have occurred, based around ideas drawn from industrial ecology. These ecoindustrial parks seek to reduce environmental impacts, while at the same time improving business competitiveness and creating jobs. Eco-industrial parks rely upon creating networks of material and by-product flows between participating firms. However, it is frequently assumed that the trust and cooperation between firms that this involves will arise automatically. In this paper it is argued that a much more nuanced approach is needed, drawing upon work in economic geography and regional economics on trust, networking and untraded interdependencies.

Diving into the “Third Waves” of Regional Governance and Economic Development Strategies: A Study of Regional Partnerships for Economic Development in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

In a number of areas in the United States, local governments, often with the help of private sector firms and nonprofit organizations, have voluntarily formed groups or alliances whose mission is to enhance the economy of a multijurisdictional area. This article presents the results of the first study of a large number of these “regional partnerships for economic development” ( N = 133) in U.S. metropolitan areas. The study concludes that the number of regional partnerships for economic development increased fourfold from the 1970s to the 1990s. Further, it finds that both government officials and business leaders play key roles in these regional partnerships, as participants, decision makers, and financial contributors. In addition, this study determines that the most common activities undertaken by these partnerships deal with marketing and government affairs.

The logic and pathologies of local and regional economic development strategies

State and local economic development programs are often loaded with tax incentive and promises of deregulation designed to attract new businesses, encourage expansions, and cultivate new firms. There is little evidence that tax relief and deregulation are effective tools for economic development, however. This article examines the logic of public sector participation in economic development, questions the effectives of typical development policies, and suggests alternatives, including tax-base sharing, greater regional cooperation, and human capital development.

Human Capital-Based Strategy for Regional Economic Development

Regional policy makers have always wrestled in vain to come up with regional economic development policies that are coherent and uniform and can be defended on economic grounds. However, most policies are either ad hoc or based on political considerations. The relevant literature dealing with regional economic development strategies is fragmented. It also does not provide any guidance to formulate an overall long-term strategy based on an integrated analytical foundation. It incorporates elements like entrepreneurship, human capital, workplace training, capital accumulation, R&D effort, innovations, technology, and technological cycles. This article proposes a human capital accumulation strategy for regional economic development that not only integrates the above diverse elements of the literature into a cohesive analytical framework but also provides the rationale for it to be part of a long-term policy for economic development on efficiency grounds.

Insights into unemployment and non-employment in Europe using alternative measures

One of the most significant set of papers to come out of the portfolio of Regional Studies Association publications in recent years has concerned the exposure of the levels of hidden unemployment in many of the old industrial areas of Britain (see, for instance: 'Labour market adjustment in areas of chronic industrial decline: the case of the UK coalfields', Regional Studies 30 (7), 1997, 627-640). The authors of these papers, Christina Beatty and Stephen Fothergill, have generated a debate that has uncovered major implications for the way the regional problem is measured, perceived and tackled. Although these are important in terms of regional economic development strategies and policies, it remains to be seen how the failure to count the real levels of unemployment will impact on the review of regional policy Assisted Areas, the designation of European Structural Fund areas and the successful introduction of such initiatives as the New Deal and Welfare to Work. Underpinning and deepening the rigour of this approach to understanding the nature of the regional problem, in recent conferences of the Regional Studies Association Ross MacKay and others have been at the forefront of developing the intellectual treatment of this uniquely UK issue: the cataloguing of many of the long term unemployed as long term sick. In this issue of Debates and Reviews , Anne Green and John Sutherland build upon the work of Ross MacKay (in particular, his paper 'Work and non-work: a more difficult labour market', presented to the European Urban and Regional Research Network (EURRN) Regional Frontiers conference in Frankfurt Oder in September 1997) by considering a number of new dimensions of this area of research. Anne Green seeks to explore insights into unemployment and nonemployment in Europe using alternative measures, based on widely accepted definitions and data sets. In the second paper, John Sutherland reflects on the routes off the unemployment register in a particular but typical region. Together these contributions to the ongoing debate on the future of the welfare state and forms of state intervention raise significant questions for the range of policies and programmes currently being pursued in the UK. Given the ways and channels along which such approaches tend to be transferred within Europe, the relevance of the British treatment of those not in work within the state benefits system to the rest of the continent is pertinent. How the redundant miners of Poland or Germany, for example, are dealt with by their authorities may have profound implications for the balance of funding within and between countries in the European Union sphere.

Further reflections on hidden unemployment: An examination of the off-flows from the claimant count in the North West of England

One of the most significant set of papers to come out of the portfolio of Regional Studies Association publications in recent years has concerned the exposure of the levels of hidden unemployment in many of the old industrial areas of Britain (see, for instance: 'Labour market adjustment in areas of chronic industrial decline: the case of the UK coalfields', Regional Studies 30 (7), 1997, 627-640). The authors of these papers, Christina Beatty and Stephen Fothergill, have generated a debate that has uncovered major implications for the way the regional problem is measured, perceived and tackled. Although these are important in terms of regional economic development strategies and policies, it remains to be seen how the failure to count the real levels of unemployment will impact on the review of regional policy Assisted Areas, the designation of European Structural Fund areas and the successful introduction of such initiatives as the New Deal and Welfare to Work. Underpinning and deepening the rigour of this approach to understanding the nature of the regional problem, in recent conferences of the Regional Studies Association Ross MacKay and others have been at the forefront of developing the intellectual treatment of this uniquely UK issue: the cataloguing of many of the long term unemployed as long term sick. In this issue of Debates and Reviews , Anne Green and John Sutherland build upon the work of Ross MacKay (in particular, his paper 'Work and non-work: a more difficult labour market', presented to the European Urban and Regional Research Network (EURRN) Regional Frontiers conference in Frankfurt Oder in September 1997) by considering a number of new dimensions of this area of research. Anne Green seeks to explore insights into unemployment and nonemployment in Europe using alternative measures, based on widely accepted definitions and data sets. In the second paper, John Sutherland reflects on the routes off the unemployment register in a particular but typical region. Together these contributions to the ongoing debate on the future of the welfare state and forms of state intervention raise significant questions for the range of policies and programmes currently being pursued in the UK. Given the ways and channels along which such approaches tend to be transferred within Europe, the relevance of the British treatment of those not in work within the state benefits system to the rest of the continent is pertinent. How the redundant miners of Poland or Germany, for example, are dealt with by their authorities may have profound implications for the balance of funding within and between countries in the European Union sphere.

Multi-sectoral qualitative analysis: a tool for assessing the competitiveness of regions and formulating strategies for economic development

Regional economic development strategy formulation relies heavily on analytical techniques such as shift share, location quotients, input-output and SWOT analysis. However, many of theses traditional tools are proving inadequate for understanding what makes regions competitive. New tools are required to evaluate the competitiveness of regional economies, how to gain competitive advantage, and what new management frameworks and enabling infrastructure are needed to drive economic development processes under globalisation. Multi-sectoral qualitative analysis (MSAQ) is a new tool for regional analysis developed by the authors in a case study of the Far North Queensland region in Australia. MSQA is used to identify the competitiveness of regional core competencies, strategic infrastructure and risk, as well as industry development and market opportunities. The case study provided the basis for the preparation of an economic development strategy to build upon the competitive advantages of the region.

Integration of Environmental Assessment into the Regional Development Planning Process of the Galilee

/ The Galilee region on the northern edge of Israel constitutes more than 15% of the state's territory, supplies more than half of its drinking water needs, and is an important recreational resource and destination for Israelis. One of the main objectives of the plan for the Galilee was to devise a regional physical and economic development strategy for the years 1992-2007 that would arrest the trend of emigration of its residents, attract newly arrived immigrants to the region, and at the same time protect natural resources and environmental quality. This paper is limited to discussion of the environmental aspects of the plan. It analyzes spatial concepts for distribution of projected population growth, evaluates environmental impacts of alternative plans, and proposes a decision-making framework and tools for minimizing natural resources loss from development at the local level. Assessment of potential environmental impacts generated quantitative data of natural resources areas. Application of the data in the plan evaluation stage showed that the alternative that concentrated most of the new development in central Galilee was the second-best choice environmentally, but was preferred as the best choice for overall qualities. The planning study offers an alternative environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to the one presently used in Israel by incorporating environmental considerations at the initial plan-making stage and not at the plan-approval stage. It demonstrated that in order to be effective, environmental assessment and land-use planning should be seen as one effort that is integrated from the start and in each stage of the plan-making process.KEY WORDS: Environmental assessment; Development planning; Galilee

Wildlife Harvesting and Sustainable Regional Native Economy in the Hudson and James Bay Lowland, Ontario

To assist the Omushkego Cree in planning a community and regional economic development strategy that takes into account the traditional economy, we developed appropriate methodologies to investigate the quantitative importance and economic value of hunting and fishing for the Mushkegowuk region, Hudson and James Bay Lowland. Harvests of wildlife by the 6500 aboriginal residents of eight communities - Moose Factory, Moosonee, New Post, Fort Albany, Kashechewan, Attawapiskat, Peawanuck and Fort Severn - were estimated by means of a questionnaire study. A total of 925 persons were interviewed for 56% coverage in a stratified sampling design. Four species (moose, Canada goose, caribou, lesser snow goose) accounted for about two-thirds of the 1990 bush food harvest of 687 000 kg, the equivalent of 402 g meat or 97 g protein per adult per day. The replacement value of the bush food harvested in the region was about $7.8 million in 1990. Including other products of the land (fur, fuelwood, berries), the total value of the traditional economy, $9.4 million for the region or $8400 per household per year, was about one-third as large as the total cash economy. The results show that the traditional economy is a cornerstone of the regional mixed economy, and that such a mixed economy may persist as a culturally and environmentally sustainable base for the region.Key words: Hudson Bay and James Bay Lowland, Canadian subarctic, Cree, sustainable development, subsistence, wildlife, fisheries