Through thick or thin? The performance and operation of firms and the institutional thickness model

The idea that “institutional thickness” is an important component for the resilience of local economies continues to attract attention several years after the seminal work on the subject by Amin and Thrift (1994). In Melbourne's northern suburbs, one manufacturing sector has recently seen significant job growth. Coinciding with this trend is the emergence of regional economic development bodies. Have they influenced the performance and operation of firms? Results from interviews with firm managers suggest not, with non-institutional factors predominating. This “business as usual” scenario suggests local economic development strategies have limitations.     

The Effects of Political and Fiscal Incentives on Local Government Behavior: An Analysis of Fiscal Slack in China

This study examines the determinants of fiscal slack from the perspective of Chinese local government officials. Given China's rapid economic growth over the past 30-plus years, Chinese local governments reportedly hold huge slack resources that attract public scrutiny. In an effort to improve their fiscal performance, some localities recently established budget stabilization funds, following a top-down initiative. However, it remains unclear to what extent fiscal slack has accumulated and which factors affect slack resource levels of Chinese local governments. By employing a panel dataset (249 prefecture-level cities, 1999–2009), this study finds that political and fiscal factors exert significant influence over local officials’ decisions about slack resource levels. The findings of the study bear implications for establishing fiscal rules and improving the performance of sub-national governments in China and other countries.     

MEGA-EVENTS, URBAN DEVELOPMENT, AND PUBLIC POLICY

As cities compete for jobs and capital in the context of limited federal aid and increasing global economic competition, a new and potentially high‐risk public policy strategy for stimulating local economic growth has emerged. This megaevent strategy entails the quest for a high‐profile event to serve as a stimulus to, and justification for, local development. How and why do American cities commit their resources to seeking a mega‐event? And, if a city lands a megaevent, how does that event affect local development policy? To address these questions, we examine the experiences of three American cities which have bid for and organized the Olympics in the contemporary era: Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Salt Lake City.     

The centre no longer holds: The rise of regional leagues in Italian politics

The principal argument in this article is that the recent emergence of regional leagues in Italian politics is epiphenomenal to broader socio‐economic changes which have occurred in the country since the 1960s. The emergence of regional leagues are a reflection of the differentiation of Italian civil society from a centralised political authority ‐ mediated through parties ‐ and the development of regional and local units as centres of economic and political legitimacy and representation.     

The efficiency of provincial governments in China from 2001 to 2010: measurement and analysis

Measurement and analysis of local government efficiency is important; however, it is also difficult. To measure government efficiency, this paper employs the relative measurement method described in the research literature. It develops and applies an index to measure and rank the government efficiency of 31 provincial governments in China (including autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2001 to 2010. This permits a comparative analysis of provincial government efficiency and of the factors that influence it, among China's eastern, central, and western regions. The findings suggest a high association between the degree of economic development and local government efficiency, and in this respect, a large disparity has been observed between central and western regions on the one hand and the eastern region on the other. It is argued that provincial governments in the central and western regions should focus on improving residents' welfare, the quality of regional economic growth, and the level of social development by constantly enhancing government efficiency, optimizing the supply of public services, controlling the size of government, and thus improving residents' disposable income. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How can “Katowice as European City of Science” change Silesia region: Recognising perspectives of private companies

The study analyses, the perception of the European City of Science (ECS) initiative planned event in Katowice in the context of the city and region's development in the eyes of private companies. It has been argued that this honour may change the city's prestige and become the source of the city and the region's development, not only through building the city's recognisable brand but also its social capital. Using focus research as a method enables not only to collect empirical data but can also be treated as a form of public participation. The study results contribute to the growing body of literature on public engagement and co-creation as well as place branding. The study's findings show the companies' expectations concerning the role of universities and their participation in the region's development. They were the foundation for preparing a set of suggestions for local governments to successfully implement the ECS initiative. This paper is the first to examine the process of preparing a city to become an ECS, as demonstrated through the case study of Katowice.     

Urban renewal as policy innovation in China: From growth stimulation to sustainable development

A major policy innovation in China, urban renewal creates an opportunity to promote sustainable inner‐city development and to foster economic growth in an environmentally and culturally sound way, which demands a close investigation of its context, internal and external dynamics, and policy features. Property‐led redevelopment dominated China's urban renewal since the early 1990s, as a result of the market reform and political decentralization. Recently, it has become important to meet the interests of local communities and the diverse stakeholders in the effort to preserve the urban history and cultural fabric of cities. Contextual factors in urban renewal policy and its innovation are investigated by analyzing a pioneering case in Guangzhou from a longitudinal study approach. The impact of the structural‐instrumental, cultural‐institutional, and environmental perspective on policy innovation with the change of contextual factors that transformed the development ideology and the managerial practice are identified to provide a new angle of studying policy innovation in the urban field.     

Subregional economic zones,politics and development: The Philippine involvement in the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA)

In Southeast and East Asia there has been a recent trend towards setting up subregional economic zones often known as ‘growth triangles’. This article examines the concept of subregional economic zones and then focuses on the history of the recently established East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA) locating it in the wider Philippine policy context. The article also assesses the likely contribution of EAGA to Mindanao's future development, paying particular attention to the political issues which could impinge on the attainment of economic prosperity.     

Racial history,legacy and economic development

For more than a century, white communities across the United States employed strategies to remain all-white, including violent acts, forcibly driving minorities out of town, and racist local ordinances. One particularly widespread and effective approach used by many towns to exclude certain groups of people from living there was the creation of a ‘sundown town’: towns that purposely signalled to African Americans and other non-white groups that they were not welcome within the city limits after dark. Crowe and Ceresola seek to understand how historical racial policies affect present-day community life and, in particular, one component of community with which many towns currently struggle: economic development. In exploring the effect of cultural legacy on perceptions of race and economic development in five mid-sized communities in central and southern Illinois—two former sundown towns and three without histories of racial exclusion—their study uses interviews, observation and content analysis to examine how historical legacy can carry over to the present and affect economic development. Overall, the findings suggest that the values and beliefs passed down through a community's legacy influences current local economic development.     

Urban Regeneration and Public Space: The Story of an Urban Park

This paper uses case-study material from a local urban park in Glasgow, Scotland, to reflect on some aspects of the wider politics of culture led urban regeneration in relation to community involvement and participation and its relationship with public space. Using case-study material from before, during and after the park's development, it highlights how the initial discursive and policy practices utilised by the city and the park's designer served to create an illusion of collaboration and inclusive public space and that the park's development in the long term was starkly revealed to be primarily focused on improving Glasgow's wider image and improving Glasgow's attractiveness to potential inward investors. It will be shown, then, that the inclusive language surrounding culture-led regeneration as regards this urban public space was obfuscatory and that the underlying social context and local public space needs were undermined by wider economic goals.     

The relevance,practicality and viability of spatial development initiatives: a South African case study

Policymakers have for long had an ambivalent attitude towards space and have been hesitant in dealing with intra‐national models of uneven development. Issues surrounding regional development have always been tainted with ideological and political influences rather than being a purely economic consideration. This article addresses the thinking behind regional development policies and questions the role of spatial policy. It confronts this question in the South African case where local government capacity is particularly constrained and the boundaries between government tiers unclear. The first section outlines a selected critical history of the regional policy literature as it applies to South Africa. This is followed by an examination of South Africa's post‐apartheid policy of spatial development initiatives (SDIs) focusing on the most contentious of these, namely the Fish River SDI, which has been plagued by controversy. It focuses on the tensions involved in development planning between government agencies and between politicians and technocrats. It also highlights the growing schism between government and civil society with the former emphasising mega‐projects which reinforce its global competitive strategy but with limited apparent benefit to the local community. Lastly, it concludes that little effort was made to integrate the SDI into a provincial poverty strategy and argues that instead of utilising industrial decentralisation to redress inequality and poverty, a ‘first‐best’ option may be for the government to target poverty directly by investing in various forms of human capital. Such an approach would lead to long‐term economic growth and also improve South Africa's international competitiveness. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

城市群：城市化健康发展的主体形态

城市群是区域经济活动的空间组织形式,是城市化发展的必然趋势和城市化的高级形态。在我国,城市群的发展和完善是推进城市化发展的主要途径。有必要确立城市群作为我国经济发展的中心环节,以城市群为主体形态推动我国城市化健康发展。     

What Influences City Council Adoption and Support for Reinventing Government? Environmental or Institutional Factors?

What influences the degree to which city councils support reinventing government (REGO)? Controlling for environmental factors that are likely to shape council policy adoption as well as the tenure of the chief administrator, the findings of this study underscore that the type of representation system is most consistently related to opposition to REGO. In addition, the economic health of the city and the tenure of the chief administrator are positively associated with council support. Overall, institutional factors affect council policy adoption more than either environmental factors or an administrator's seniority, at least in this policy area.     

Migrant Heroes: Nationalism,Citizenship and the Politics of Filipino Migrant Labor

The Philippine state has popularized the idea of Filipino migrants as the country's 'new national heroes', critically transforming notions of Filipino citizenship and citizenship struggles. As 'new national heroes', migrant workers are extended particular kinds of economic and welfare rights while they are abroad even as they are obligated to perform particular kinds of duties to their home state. The author suggests that this transnationalized citizenship, and the obligations attached to it, becomes a mode by which the Philippine state ultimately disciplines Filipino migrant labor as flexible labor. However, as citizenship is extended to Filipinos beyond the borders of the Philippines, the globalization of citizenship rights has enabled migrants to make various kinds of claims on the Philippine state. Indeed, these new transnational political struggles have given rise not only to migrants' demands for rights, but to alternative nationalisms and novel notions of citizenship that challenge the Philippine state's role in the export and commodification of migrant workers.     

GLOBALIZATION'S IMPACT ONSTATE AND LOCAL POLICY: The Rise of Regional Cluster‐Based Economic Development Strategies1

We propose proactive policies which allow state and local governments to participate in the global economy, offering opportunities and venues for effective development. We first develop the argument that the changing economic conditions associated with globalization call for a new approach to state‐local economic development policy. We then outline three assumptions which are critical to drive successful state and local economic development policy in a global environment. The major part of the analysis describes this new strategy of “regional cluster‐based economic development,” drawing extensively upon a case study of Cleveland's economic revitalization.     

Urban local government finance in Benin: The case of Cotonou Urban District I

The centralized system of government in the People's Republic of Benin was established when the country was a French colony. During the 1970s and 1980s, the government system was reorganized to conform to the principles of the ruling Marxist–Leninist regime. Deteriorating economic conditions have negatively affected the public sector in recent years. The capital city of Cotonou, however, has managed to perform better than other urban governments despite facing serious economic problems and many constraints imposed by a strict system of central control over local authorities. This paper examines the nature of and reasons for Cotonou's performance.     

How to organize secondary capital city regions: Institutional drivers of locational policy coordination

We analyze locational policy coordination in the metropolitan regions of secondary capital cities. Secondary capital cities—defined as capitals that are not the primary economic city of their nation states—serve as the political center of their nation states; however, they must simultaneously explore new ways to develop their own regional economies. Locational policies, and their regional coordination, aim to strengthen the economic competitiveness of metropolitan regions. Our comparison of the metropolitan regions of Bern, Ottawa–Gatineau, The Hague, and Washington, D.C., reveals that vertical institutional fragmentation, together with high local tax autonomy, create an unlevel playing field, which prompts jurisdictions to behave fiercely in regional tax competition. These findings are troubling for secondary capital cities given their propensity to be located in fragmented metropolitan regions and the capital city‐specific local tax autonomy constraints imposed on them.     

Urban government and market reforms in China

Chinese reformers wish through their economic programme to create a new form of developmental state in China and a new relationship between state and economy. This paper examines these issues through a study of the impact of Chinese economic reforms on the structure and behaviour of local government, focusing on urban government at the district level. It looks at three aspects of the issue—the trend towards financial decentralization, institutional changes in district administration and changes in the relationship between local government and the urban economy. It concludes (contrary to arguments which regard bureaucratic response to the reforms as one of pure inertia and obstruction) that urban local government has changed in several major ways, the most obvious being a trend towards institutional expansion and proliferation. From the point of view of the reform process, some institutional changes have been positive, others negative, resulting in a ‘dualistic’ state which contains elements of both old and new forms of developmental state. There is a need for systematic analysis of the specific future needs and evolution of China's urban government which would guide a process of politico-administrative reform comparable to the current economic reform.     

北京市经济持续增长下的城-近郊人口分布合理性研究

本文利用北京市城区人口密度与近郊区人口密度的比作为反映人口分布的指标，通过对城近郊区人口密度及其变动与经济发展、城市交通、人均居住面积、绿地面积等因素的相关分析，阐明了人口分布变动主要取决于经济发展水平，城市交通、人均居住面积、绿地面积等因素是通过经济变量作用于人口因素，或人口因素通过经济变量作用于其他。最后，本文利用城近郊人口密度梯度与GDP的logistic曲线估计，对人口分布的合理性做进一步的分析。     

The Portland region: Where city and suburbs talk to each other—and often agree

Abstract

Portland, OR, is often cited as an example of successful regional governance and planning. The metropolitan area appears to match many of the precepts of the popular “compact city” model of urban growth and to demonstrate the capacity of local and state government to shape growing metropolitan regions. Given this reputation, it is important to evaluate the relevance of the Portland experience for other communities, distinguishing unique local circumstances from generalizable characteristics.

This analysis explores the spatial character of metropolitan Portland in the 1990s, summarizes the politics of regional planning, examines weaknesses in the Portland approach, and offers suggestions for other metropolitan areas. The study finds that many of Portland's accomplishments center on urban design, but that the region's most distinguishing characteristic is its attention to political process. The discussion concludes with suggestions about the value of extensive civic discourse, incremental policy making, and institution building.