Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness
Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness

Author: Gillian Bristow

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2010-04-05

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 1135225206

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Since the early 1990s, governments and development agencies have become increasingly preoccupied with the pursuit of regional competitiveness. However, there is considerable confusion around what exactly regional competitiveness means, how it might be achieved, whether and how it can be measured, and whether it is a meaningful and appropriate goal for regional economies. The central aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive and critical account of these debates with reference to theory, policy and practice, and thus to explore the meaning and value of the concept of regional competitiveness. The book is structured into three parts. Part one introduces the concept of regional competitiveness by tracing its origins and exploring its different meanings in regional economic development. This will critically engage with political economy approaches to understanding the nature and dominance of the competitiveness discourse. Part two interrogates the pursuit of regional competitiveness in policy and practice. This critically evaluates the degree to which the pursuit of competitiveness is encouraging convergence in policy agendas in regions through an examination of key determinants of policy sameness and difference, notably benchmarking and devolved governance. Part three explores the limitations to regional competitiveness and explores whether and how its predominance in the policy discourse might be challenged by alternative agendas such as sustainable development and wellbeing. This focuses on the developing qualitative character of regional development. This volume critically engages with the theory and policy of regional competitiveness, thus providing the first integrated critique of the concept for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics interested in regional development and policy. It will unpack the concept of regional competitiveness and explain its usefulness, limitations and policy appeal, as well as examining its sustainability in the light of evolving governance structures and the imperatives of broadening regional development agendas.

Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness
Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness

Author: Gillian Bristow

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-04-15

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9781138867321

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Since the early 1990s, governments and development agencies have become increasingly preoccupied with the pursuit of regional competitiveness. However, there is considerable confusion around what exactly regional competitiveness means, how it might be achieved, whether and how it can be measured, and whether it is a meaningful and appropriate goal for regional economies. The central aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive and critical account of these debates with reference to theory, policy and practice, and thus to explore the meaning and value of the concept of regional competitiveness. The book is structured into three parts. Part one introduces the concept of regional competitiveness by tracing its origins and exploring its different meanings in regional economic development. This will critically engage with political economy approaches to understanding the nature and dominance of the competitiveness discourse. Part two interrogates the pursuit of regional competitiveness in policy and practice. This critically evaluates the degree to which the pursuit of competitiveness is encouraging convergence in policy agendas in regions through an examination of key determinants of policy sameness and difference, notably benchmarking and devolved governance. Part three explores the limitations to regional competitiveness and explores whether and how its predominance in the policy discourse might be challenged by alternative agendas such as sustainable development and wellbeing. This focuses on the developing qualitative character of regional development. This volume critically engages with the theory and policy of regional competitiveness, thus providing the first integrated critique of the concept for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics interested in regional development and policy. It will unpack the concept of regional competitiveness and explain its usefulness, limitations and policy appeal, as well as examining its sustainability in the light of evolving governance structures and the imperatives of broadening regional development agendas.

Clusters and Regional Development
Clusters and Regional Development

Author: Bjorn Asheim

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2006-09-27

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 1134273592

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Using international examples, leading scholars present the first critical analysis of cluster theory, assessing the cluster notion and drawing out, not only its undoubted strengths and attractions, but also its weaknesses and limitations. Over the past decade the ‘cluster model’ has been seized on as a tool for promoting competitiveness, innovation and growth on local, regional and national scales. However, despite its popularity there is much about it that is problematic, and in some respects the rush to employ ‘cluster ideas’ has run ahead of many fundamental conceptual, theoretical and empirical questions. Addressing key questions on the nature, use and effectiveness of cluster models, Clusters and Regional Development provides the missing thorough theoretical and empirical evaluation.

Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness
Critical Reflections on Regional Competitiveness

Author: Gillian Bristow

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0415471591

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Since the early 1990s, governments and development agencies have become increasingly preoccupied with the pursuit of regional competitiveness. However, there is considerable confusion around what exactly regional competitiveness means, how it might be achieved, whether and how it can be measured, and whether it is a meaningful and appropriate goal for regional economies. The central aim of this book is to provide a comprehensive and critical account of these debates with reference to theory, policy and practice, and thus to explore the meaning and value of the concept of regional competitiveness. The book is structured into three parts. Part one introduces the concept of regional competitiveness by tracing its origins and exploring its different meanings in regional economic development. This will critically engage with political economy approaches to understanding the nature and dominance of the competitiveness discourse. Part two interrogates the pursuit of regional competitiveness in policy and practice. This critically evaluates the degree to which the pursuit of competitiveness is encouraging convergence in policy agendas in regions through an examination of key determinants of policy sameness and difference, notably benchmarking and devolved governance. Part three explores the limitations to regional competitiveness and explores whether and how its predominance in the policy discourse might be challenged by alternative agendas such as sustainable development and wellbeing. This focuses on the developing qualitative character of regional development. This volume critically engages with the theory and policy of regional competitiveness, thus providing the first integrated critique of the concept for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as academics interested in regional development and policy. It will unpack the concept of regional competitiveness and explain its usefulness, limitations and policy appeal, as well as examining its sustainability in the light of evolving governance structures and the imperatives of broadening regional development agendas.

Regional Competitiveness
Regional Competitiveness

Author: Ron Martin

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1136012540

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There is now a wide spread interest in regions as a key focus in the organization and governance of economic growth and wealth creation. This important book considers the factors that influence and shape the competitive performance of regions. This is not just an issue of academic interest and debate, but also of increasing policy deliberation and action. However, as the readings in this book make clear, the very idea of regional competitiveness is itself complex and contentious. Many academics and policy makers have used the concept without fully considering what is meant by the term and how it can be measured. Policy formulation has tended to rush ahead of understanding and analysis, and the purpose of this book is to close this important gap in understanding. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

The Global Competitiveness of Regions
The Global Competitiveness of Regions

Author: Robert Huggins

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-06-27

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1135129053

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The aim of this book is to consider theoretically the notion of the global competitiveness of regions, as well as giving attention as to how such competitiveness may be empirically measured. With this in mind, the book has three specific objectives: first, to place the concept of regional competitiveness within the context of regional economic development theory; second, to present a rationale and method for quantifying the global competitiveness of regions; and, third, to undertake the most geographically widespread analysis of regional competitiveness differences across the globe. With regard to the third goal, the analysis incorporates more than 500 regions across Europe, North and South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the so-called BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The importance of the concept of competitiveness has increased rapidly in recent years, with the issues surrounding it becoming, at the same time, more empirically refined and theoretically complex. The focus on regions reflects the growing consensus that they are the primary spatial units that compete to attract investment, and it is at the regional level that knowledge is circulated and transferred, resulting in agglomerations, or clusters, of industrial and service sector enterprises. This growing acknowledgement of the region’s role as a key spatial unit of organisation has led to attention turning to competitiveness at a more regional level. The book explores the results of the World Competitiveness Index of Regions (WCIR), covering the rankings and results of the 2014 edition. The WCIR provides a tool for analysing the development of a range of regional economies across the globe. It enables an illustration of the changing patterns of regional competitiveness on the international stage to be generated. In fundamental terms, the WCIR aims to produce an integrated and overall benchmark of the knowledge capacity, capability, and sustainability of each region, and the extent to which this knowledge is translated into economic value and transferred into the wealth of the citizens of each region.

2017 Annual Competitiveness Analysis And Impact Of Exchange Rates On Foreign Direct Investment Inflows To Asean Economies
2017 Annual Competitiveness Analysis And Impact Of Exchange Rates On Foreign Direct Investment Inflows To Asean Economies

Author: Khee Giap Tan

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2018-11-27

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 9813273070

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This book titled 2017 Annual Competitiveness Analysis and Impact of Exchange Rates on Foreign Direct Investment Inflows to ASEAN Economies recount the development experience of ASEAN over the past 50 years, describe the long-term mega-trends which will shape ASEAN's development trajectory, and propose a development vision with actionable policy recommendations for ASEAN to become the fourth-largest economy in the world by 2030.Into its fifth edition, the book updates the annual economic competitive analysis for ASEAN-10 conducted by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI). It also introduces an innovation to the institute's methodological framework which is the use of Shapley values to come up with objective weights for indicators, sub-environments and environments in the competitiveness index. This methodological innovation not only adds an element of objectivity in terms of the assignment of weights, but also validates the robustness of results obtained from the competitiveness studies over the past years.Recognising the importance of foreign direct investment (FDI) to growth and development in the region, the book also presents an empirical investigation of the drivers of FDI inflows, with specific focus on the effects of exchange rate and its volatility. For a group of economies looking to leverage on FDI and trade to transform themselves into the fourth-largest economy in the world, it is important for ASEAN to achieve high external competitiveness, especially in terms of the member states' real effective exchange rates (REER). These research findings make important academic and policy contributions by teasing out the relationship between REER levels, volatility and FDI in the ASEAN context.Finally, the book collates speeches by academics and policy-makers on issues of key interests to the future development of ASEAN. It contains the reflection on the ASEAN Charter by Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore. Moreover, the discussions on the One Belt One Road initiative and its implication for the region by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law of Singapore; and Professor Liew Mun Leong, Chairman of Surbana Jurong and Changi Airport Group as well as Provost Chair and Professor of NUS make this book a valuable compendium for policy-makers, thinkers, and anyone who has an interest in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

Contemporary Economic Issues in Asian Countries: Proceeding of CEIAC 2022, Volume 1
Contemporary Economic Issues in Asian Countries: Proceeding of CEIAC 2022, Volume 1

Author: An Thinh Nguyen

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-04-17

Total Pages: 666

ISBN-13: 9811996695

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This book makes general considerations regarding global changes and contemporary economic issues in Asian countries in real terms. It offers a collection of original conference papers from the annual international conferences on “Contemporary economic issues in Asian countries” (CEIAC Conference) commenced in 2022 in collaboration with CIFOR-ICRAF, Sungkyunkwan University (Korea), and Tamkang University (Taiwan). The theme of the CEIAC Conference 2022 deals with broad aspects of the contemporary economic issues in Asian countries. It covers topics such as economics and business (economic theory, national and international income distribution, macroeconomic policies, sectors of economy, productivity developments, financial market, business governance, bank financing, etc.), green economy and sustainable development (developing process, development policy, public policy, sustainable growth, green growth, etc.), and international trade and investment (international trade theory, free trade agreements, tariffs, intellectual property, international law, etc.). The book would interest a wide array of professors, researchers, lecturers, students in fields of economics, consultants, and decision makers interested in the issues related to economic issues in Asia.

Cities, State and Globalisation
Cities, State and Globalisation

Author: Tassilo Herrschel

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-01-03

Total Pages: 245

ISBN-13: 1317934091

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This book investigates the ways in which city regions view themselves as single entities, how they are governed, what is meant by ‘governance’, why the question of city-regional governance matters, and the extent to which the balance between internal and external factors is important for finding governance solutions. Examples from North America and Europe are compared and contrasted to gain a better understanding of what matters ‘on the ground’ to people and policy makers when seeking answers to the challenges of a globalised, rapidly changing world. In order to analyse the conditions involved in making local decisions, the author looks at the impact of established policy-making practices, socio-economic patterns among the population, existing views of the ‘local’ and the ‘regional’ and their respective roles among the electorate and policy makers, and the scope for building city-regional governance under given statutory and fiscal provisions. The complex interaction of these factors is shown to produce place-specific forms and modi operandi for governing city regions as local-regional constructs. This book will be of interest to urban and regional policy makers and scholars working in the fields of economic geography and political geography.

Transitions in Regional Economic Development
Transitions in Regional Economic Development

Author: Ivan Turok

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-18

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1351387782

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At a time of extraordinary challenges confronting the world, this book analyses some of the profound changes occurring in the development of cities and regions. It discusses the uncertainties associated with the stalling of hyper-globalization and asks whether this creates opportunities for resurgent regional economies driven by local capabilities, resource efficiencies and domestic production. Theory and evidence on socio-economic and environmental transitions underway in many regions are brought together. Implications of the shifting balance of global power towards emerging economies in the East are explored, along with the consequences of urbanization in the global South for politics and democracy. Dilemmas surrounding migration are also discussed, including whether incomers displace local workers and depress wages, or bring benefits in the form of know-how, new technology and investment. More integrative concepts of the region and theories of regional development are analysed, recognising the role of human capital, knowledge, innovation, finance, infrastructure and institutions. This was originally published as a special issue of Regional Studies.