Regional Economic Problems

What are regional economic problems?. Why do regional problems exist?. Types of problem region. Agricultural problem regions. Coal-mining problem regions. Depressed manufacturing regions. Agglomerations and congested regions in advanced countries. Regional policy.

Originally published in 1977. This book provides the first concise non-technical account of what the main kinds of regional problems are, how they arise, and the kinds of policy which have been used to tackle them in the UK, USA and Western Europe. The book starts with a discussion of why "regional problems" really are situations which call for special action, followed by a short preliminary classification of problem regions (including those in the less developed countries), then on to a more detailed survey of the origins and experience of selected problem regions in the more developed market economies. The authors focus on four broad kinds of problem region; agricultural regions, coal mining regions, old textile regions, and so-called "congested" regions. They conclude with a selective survey of regional policies in these more advanced economies, distinguishing and comparing the main trends and the different national styles.

This book, originally published in 1986, based on extensive original research, presents many findings on the phenomenon of return migration and on its impact on regional economic development. It remains the only study of its kind. International in scope, the book includes chapters on return migration in Italy, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Jordan, Canada, Jamaica, Algeria and the Middle East.

Originally published in 1983, when Europe’s economies were facing the worst recession since the 1930s, this book reviews the outcome of a quarter of a century of research and practical experience in the field of regional economic management. In the spatial context of the European Community, the author explores central issues by integrating the results of his own research with those of economists, geographers, economic historians and psychologists. It provides a wide survey of the subject, demonstrates the complexity of the spatial-economic systems which the regional economic planner seeks to modify, analyses the strategies for regional development employed by national and international agencies and offers a substantial annotated bibliography. Contradictions arising from the contrasting spatial perspectives of national governments and the European Commission are emphasised. Among other things, it concludes that many regional problems strongly reflect perception and behavioural factors as well as purely economic constraints.

Compilation of essays on government policy and regional planning concerning developing areas in the USA - covers such topics as industrial development, industrial policy for both urban areas and rural areas surplus labour supply areas, urbanization, the employment opportunity promotion effects of new plants location (location of industry), capital flows, problems of rural poverty in Southern states, etc., and includes large-scale models for forecasting regional economic activity and descriptions of econometrics research methods.

This book offers a new geographical political economy approach to our understanding of regional and local economic development in Western Europe over the last twenty years. It suggests that governance failure is occurring at a variety of spatial scales and an ‘impedimenta state’ is emerging. This is derived from the state responding to state intervention and economic development that has become irrational, ambivalent and disoriented. The book blends theoretical approaches to crisis and contradiction theory with empirical examples from cities and regions.