Regional economic development has attracted the interest of economists, geographers, planners and regional scientists for a long time. And, of course, it is a field that has developed a large practitioner cohort in government and business agencies from the national down to the state and local levels. In planning for cities and regions, both large and small, economic development issues now tend to be integrated into strategic planning processes. For at least the last 50 years, scholars from various disciplines have theorised about the nature of regional economic development, developing a range of models seeking to explain the process of regional economic development, and why it is that regions vary so much in their economic structure and performance and how these aspects of a region can change dramatically over time. Regional scientists in particular have developed a comprehensive tool-kit of methodologies to measure and monitor regional economic characteristics such as industry sectors, employment, income, value of production, investment, and the like, using both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, and focusing on both static and dynamic analysis. The 'father of regional science', Walter lsard, was the first to put together a comprehensive volume on techniques of regional analysis (Isard 1960), and since then a huge literature has emerged, including the many titles in the series published by Springer in which this book is published.

Inhalt

1 Perspectives on Regional Economic Development.- 2 The Regional Economic Development Movement: Early Approaches and the Evolution of Strategy.- 3 Traditional Tools for Measuring and Evaluating Regional Economic Performance I: Economic Base and Shift-Share Analysis.- 4 Traditional Tools for Measuring and Evaluating Regional Economic Performance II: Input-Output Analysis.- 5 Path Setting: A New Approach to Regional Economic Development Futures.- 6 Industry Cluster Analysis.- 7 Multi-Sector Analysis: Assessing Regional Competitiveness and Risk.- 8 Capacity Building and Leadership for Regional Economic Development.- 9 Decision Support Tools to Inform Regional Economic Development Analysis and Strategy.- 10 Emerging Issues for Regional Economic Development.- Figures.- Tables.- References.