The Welsh Government began consultation on a new framework for regeneration policy. Proposals included: new national outcomes; a people- and place-based approach that was well evidenced and evaluated; a strengthened national, regional, and local delivery structure; a renewed commitment to cross-portfolio working within government; and ideas on how to direct targeted investment.
Source: Vibrant & Viable Places: New regeneration framework, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank paper said that there was strong evidence that the economies of European Union countries were converging, along with the regions in Europe. But, within countries, regional disparities were on the rise. It was difficult to establish if EU structural and cohesion funds played any role, good or bad, in recent growth convergence patterns. But there was probably no reason for cohesion policy to be concerned with what happened inside countries: national governments redistributed well across regions, whether they were fiscally centralized or decentralized.
Source: Benedicta Marzinotto, The Growth Effects of EU Cohesion Policy: A meta-analysis, Working Paper 2012/14, Breugel
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined the link between human capital and regional economic growth in the European Union. The recent economic performance of European regions was associated with an increase in over-education. In fact, measures of educational mismatch seemed to be more strongly connected to regional economic performance than did other traditional measures of human capital stock.
Source: Raul Ramos, Jordi Surinach, and Manuel Artis, 'Regional economic growth and human capital: the role of over-education', Regional Studies, Volume 46 Number 10
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined levels of over-education and wage returns to education for males across 11 regions of the United Kingdom using Labour Force Survey data. Significant differences were found in the probability of being over-educated across regions. Differences were also found in the return to the 'correct' level of education in each region, in each case associated with flexibility of movement between and into particular regions, which determined the ease of job matching. There existed a premium to the 'correct' level of education, which varied across regions.
Source: Pamela Lenton, 'Over-education across British regions', Regional Studies, Volume 46 Number 9
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that it was 'nothing short of scandalous' that so few projects funded by the Regional Growth Fund had actually got off the ground. Some two years into the programme, only £60 million of the £1.4 billion allocated to the Fund had reached front-line projects.
Source: The Regional Growth Fund, Fifth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 104, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | CBI press release | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the European Regional Development Fund. It said that the Fund was highly regarded by a range of beneficiaries, and had made 'vital contributions' to a variety of projects across the country.
Source: Government Response to the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee Second Report of Session 2012-13: European Regional Development Fund, Cm 8389, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO
Links: Response | DCLG press release
Notes: MPs report
Date: 2012-Sep
A think-tank report said that the gap between successful and struggling regions was set to widen, with the poorest communities experiencing further economic decline unless the government took more effective action to rebalance the economy. It raised concerns that, for the first time in over 40 years, the United Kingdom was without any national programme aimed at regenerating the most deprived communities.
Source: Lizzie Crowley, Brhmie Balaram, and Neil Lee, People or Place? Urban policy in the age of austerity, Work Foundation
Links: Report | Work Foundation press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Sep
A paper examined the 'smart specialization' approach to regional development policy in the European Union, under which regions were encouraged to diversify on the basis of existing strengths (not necessarily linked to high technology).
Source: David Charles, Frederike Gross, and John Bachtler, 'Smart Specialisation' and Cohesion Policy – A Strategy for All Regions?, IQ-Net Thematic Paper 30(2), European Policies Research Centre (University of Strathclyde)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Aug
A report by a committee of MPs said that European Union-backed regional regeneration projects could stall unless the coalition government took 'urgent steps' to provide them with match funding.
Source: European Regional Development Fund, Second Report (Session 2012–13), HC 81, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Labour Party press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Jul
A new book examined key features of the new generation of regionally based economic development organizations in Europe.
Source: Nicola Bellini, Mike Danson, and Henrik Halkier (eds), Regional Development Agencies: The Next Generation? Networking, knowledge and regional policies, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jul
A report examined the draft legislative package for European Union cohesion policy after 2013, and identified the main strengths and weaknesses It said that the European Parliament should seek to strengthen the territorial dimension of the package.
Source: Carlos Mendez, John Bachtler, and Fiona Wishlade, Cohesion Policy After 2013: A critical assessment of the legislative proposals, European Parliament
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Jul
A report by a committee of MSPs said that European structural funds had brought many social and economic benefits to Scotland, delivering infrastructure projects and empowering employment and development support in both rural and urban areas. It examined the factors that had encouraged or discouraged Scottish stakeholders and businesses from engaging with the structural funds, and made suggestions to resolve particular issues.
Source: EU Structural Funds, 5th Report 2012, SP Paper 179, Scottish Parliament European and External Relations Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2012-Jul
An article examined the mechanisms driving the allocation of cohesion policy resources in the European Union. It highlighted the extent to which the outcome of the policy's principle- and formula-driven allocation mechanisms was modified by precedent and politico-economic considerations. The consequent per capita final financial allocations (the intensity of aid) were not correlated with the areas of greatest poverty. The article examined ways of ensuring that final allocations were inversely proportional to income, and that most aid was concentrated on the most disadvantaged areas.
Source: Michael Dunford and Diane Perrons, 'Regional inequality in the EU: how to finance greater cohesion', European Planning Studies, Volume 20 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the increase in regional demographic and economic disparities in Germany and the United Kingdom. These disparities were a result of demographic processes that were largely shaped by internal and international mobility.
Source: Pawel Paluchowski, 'Demographic and economic disparities for NUTS regions in Germany and the UK in the recent past (1990-2010) and future', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 5 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the growing regional divide within the United Kingdom. The local economy relied on a division of labour that developed highly specialized skills. High levels of regional unemployment following deindustrialization converted into high levels of regional non-work in later years. The loss of an economic base left a gap in the community and economy that people struggled to bridge. Market forces worked strongly against certain groups in society, including those at some disadvantage in the labour market.
Source: Ross MacKay and Rhys Davies, 'Collective learning, effective demand, loss of work and loss of direction: the growing regional divide within the UK', Regional Studies, Volume 46 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
An audit report said that each new job created by the Regional Growth Fund (designed to help businesses create private sector jobs in parts of the country with high levels of public sector employment) could cost taxpayers as much as £200,000. A significant proportion of the first £1.4 billion from the fund had been allocated to projects that offered relatively few jobs for the money invested.
Source: The Regional Growth Fund, HC 17 (Session 2012-13), National Audit Office, TSO
Links: Report | NAO press release | DBIS press release | CBI press release | IOD press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-May
The interim report of an independent commission called for a much clearer focus on the northern region of England in economic policymaking. It said that the longstanding structural challenges facing the north were entrenched by systemic factors that inhibited its long-term growth potential, and it was not in the long-term interests of the United Kingdom as a whole for this situation to persist.
Source: Northern Prosperity Is National Prosperity: NEFC interim report, Institute for Public Policy Research North/Northern Economic Futures Commission
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined the impact of structural and cohesion funds on regional disparities within European Union countries over the period 1995-2006. Structural funds had reduced regional disparities over this period. The effect was potentially reversed above some level of transfer intensity (approximately 1.6 per cent of country gross domestic product). This had implications for the desirable allocation of the funds across countries – especially since almost all the newest member states had a transfer intensity above this threshold.
Source: Andreas Kyriacou and Oriol Roca-Sagales, 'The impact of EU structural funds on regional disparities within member states', Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Volume 30 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Apr
An article examined the technical efficiency and inefficiency of the European Union structural funds applied in priority regions for the period 2000-2006, and whether the regions had been more efficient in increasing their levels of employment or productivity. Only eight regions were found to be efficient.
Source: Maria del Rocio Moreno Enguix, Juan Gomez Garcia, and Juan Candido Gomez Gallego, 'An impact analysis of the European structural funds on the variation of the rate of employment and productivity in objective 1 regions', European Planning Studies, Volume 20 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined the importance of scientific expertise and global scientific models in contemporary regional development practice in Europe.
Source: Sebastian Buttner, Mobilizing Regions, Mobilizing Europe: Expert knowledge and scientific planning in European regional development, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Feb
An article drew on the 'capabilities' perspective (and a similar methodology to the United Nations Human Development Index) to calculate a measure of regional development for United Kingdom regions, and contrasted the results with orthodox national income measures. The key finding was that London appeared less of a successful region and more of a region with intense contrasts, including high levels of poverty – perhaps better reflecting inhabitants' sense of well-being.
Source: Diane Perrons, 'Regional performance and inequality: linking economic and social development through a capabilities approach', Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Volume 5 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined territoriality in the strategies and practices of the territorial cohesion policy of the European Union. The conceptualizations of territorial cohesion and regional practices still leaned on traditional understandings of territoriality. There were clear mismatches between the 'soft' planning visions for a single European space and the practical development governed through traditional administrative territories.
Source: Juho Luukkonen and Helka Moilanen, 'Territoriality in the strategies and practices of the territorial cohesion policy of the European Union: territorial challenges in implementing soft planning ', European Planning Studies, Volume 20 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A think-tank report examined the potential role of universities in encouraging local and regional economic growth.
Source: Katie Schmuecker and Will Cook, Beyond Bricks and Mortar Boards: Universities and the future of regional economic development, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined the extent to which transport infrastructure investment had contributed to regional growth in the European Union between 1990 and 2004. Infrastructure endowment was found to be a relatively poor predictor of economic growth.
Source: Riccardo Crescenzi and Andres Rodriguez-Pose, Infrastructure and Regional Growth in the European Union, Working Paper 2012/03, IMDEA Social Sciences Institute (Madrid)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined the relationship between employment flexibility and cross-regional adjustment (migration) at regional and local levels. Employment flexibility was associated with higher labour mobility (but only at a rather localized scale) and at the same time seemed to reduce the responsiveness of migration to unemployment. This suggested that rising flexibility might be linked to higher persistence in spatial disparities, as intra-regional adjustments were strengthened while extra-regional adjustments weakened.
Source: Vassilis Monastiriotis and Ioannis Kaplanis, Flexible Employment and Cross-Regional Adjustment, Discussion Paper 100, Spatial Economics Research Centre (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the evolution of agencies for regional development since the 1990s.
Source: Mike Danson and Greg Lloyd, 'Devolution, institutions, and organisations: changing models of regional development agencies', Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Volume 30 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper examined the concept of 'territoriality' and its applicability in regional development approaches. The local level was emerging as the key spatial dimension where European Union development instruments applied, and therefore a systemic local approach might be needed when designing national and regional cohesion policies and instruments.
Source: Cristina Martinez-Fernandez, Pawel Chorazy, Tamara Weyman, and Monika Gawron, The Territorial Dimension of the European Social Fund: A local approach for local jobs?, Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Working Paper 2011/23, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
A paper examined the impact of European Union structural funds on employment, drawing on a panel dataset of 130 regions over the period 1999-2007. The results indicated that high-skilled populations in particular benefited from EU structural funds.
Source: Philipp Mohl and Tobias Hagen, Do EU Structural Funds Promote Regional Employment? Evidence from dynamic panel data models, Working Paper 1403, European Central Bank
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
An article examined the implications of state territorial decentralization for the management of uneven regional development and spatial justice.
Source: Krisztina Varro, 'Reconsidering the English question as a matter of democratic politics and spatial justice', Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Volume 30 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jan