区域、竞争力与区域发展

竞争力概念本身具有抽象性和模糊性,尤其被用于地点的属性时,对其界定颇多争议。这导致在区域竞争政策应用中不可避免的出现某种程度的混乱。通过追踪竞争力的缘起,在对两种主要的区域竞争力概念来源进行理论述评的基础上,从竞争的一般概念角度阐述了区域竞争力存在的客观性及其本质涵义,并从企业和地点两个角度比较分析了竞争在区域发展中的作用及影响。     

Evaluation of the spatial and economic effectiveness of industrial land policies in northwest Europe

This article stems from the discrepancy between the lack of attention paid to industrial land policy by academics and the predominant thought among elected representatives and development agencies, i.e. that industrial land policy plays a key role in the creation of growth and new jobs. The article begins with a reflection on the literature, which stresses the need to develop knowledge on industrial land policies. To help fill this research gap, we have developed an exploratory piece of research on the theme of their ‘spatial’ and ‘economic effectiveness’, on the basis of statistical analyses dedicated to seven countries. As regards ‘spatial effectiveness’, the results underline significant national differentials in terms of land consumption on the one hand, while highlighting the economic sprawl that affects France and Belgium on the other hand. As regards ‘economic effectiveness’, our results show that the impact of the development of economic estates on growth depends largely on regional contexts. In particular, the ‘intermediate regions’ in western Germany stand out as belonging to a specific context where land policies seem particularly effective from an economic standpoint. By contrast, the ‘economic effectiveness’ of industrial land policies requires readjustments in the Netherlands as well as in most ‘predominantly rural regions, close to a city’.     

Do EU Regional Policies Favour Regional Entrepreneurship? Empirical Evidence from Spain and Germany

The European Commission in the scope of its cohesion policy tries to increase competitiveness of the European Union (EU) regions by supporting, beside many other instruments, entrepreneurial activities in the EU sub-national regions. This paper sheds an empirical light on the relationship between entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurial perceptions on the one hand and the economic performance of regions eligible for EU regional policies in Spain and Germany on the other. Based on empirical data on the NUTS2 level, there will be analysis of whether previous EU support has later had an impact on entrepreneurial activities and/or entrepreneurial perception in the regions. The results show empirical evidence for a relationship between entrepreneurial activities and EU regional policies. However, other determinants such as gender and the role model function have an even stronger impact. Some of the results may help to increase the effectiveness of EC regional policies and of regional policies of the national governments, especially if the interdependence of entrepreneurship support policies and proper regional policies is considered.     

Promoting Investment in Russia's Regions

The paper, based on extensive field interviews in 2009, examines regional investment policies in Russia, focusing on the Novgorod and Kaluga regions. The author, a Finland-based geographer specializing in Russia's economy, argues that some Russian regions (including the ones not well endowed with natural resources) can succeed in promoting investments despite the generally unfavorable economic environment. He also questions the ability of so-called regional "growth machines" to be sustained over the long term, by contrasting the cases of Novgorod and Kaluga, whereby Novgorod represents a region transformed from a leader in promoting investment into a corrupted autarchic regime. Kaluga, on the other hand, is presented as a successful region on the basis of an innovative but somewhat risky investment promotion strategy.     

Regional Competitiveness in Central European Countries: In Search of a Useful Conceptual Framework

The goal of this discussion paper is to examine the relevance of selected influential theoretical and conceptual approaches to regional competitiveness for specific geographical and institutional contexts of Central European (CE) regions. We argue that strategic documents and policies (both nation- and region-wide) in CE countries are based on un-critical applications of a few popular concepts of competitiveness that were originally proposed and mainly applied in Western European and US regions. Existing empirical evidence documents a strong role of exogenous factors of competitiveness in CE regions, the in-house character of firm innovations and weak demand for innovations, and other impediments of R&D collaboration. We suggest that these (and other factors) limit the applicability of concepts such as regional innovation systems and Porterian clusters in the context of many CE regions. On the other hand, we argue that some other concepts such as the global production networks perspective or related variety and economic complexity can provide some relevant and inspiring frameworks for analysing regional competitiveness in CE countries.     

Institutional Arrangements and Political Mobilization in the New Italian Regionalism: The Role of Spatial Policies in the Piedmont Region

The paper focuses on the resurgence of the regions as protagonists of the process of the state rescaling in many European countries. In the EU countries this process can be seen as a result of a mix of economic and institutional factors, which have been producing an increasing competition between the central governments and the regional authorities. The rise of the multi-level governance and of the so-called Euroregionalism has reinforced the role of the regional scale in the territorial development: on one hand, with new actors like agencies and organizations engaged in the economic development (FDI attraction, place marketing, innovation and learning), on the other hand by the resurgence of “old” actors, such as the regions, in many cases empowered by processes of institutional devolution. The literature has investigated this re-composition of the political space with regard to the “hollowing out” and the “rescaling” of the state. On the base of these theoretical underpinnings, we discuss some empirical evidence from the Italian experience, in order to show whether and how the regional structures are not only “spaces for policies”, but also “spaces for politics”. Over the last decade, the changes in legal framework, the external inputs from supranational levels of government—the European Commission—and the re-territorialization processes have introduced many elements of innovation in the role of the regions. By illustrating the case of the Piedmont Region, we try to demonstrate that the transition towards the region as an active space of politics can be mediated by the sphere of the policies, especially the spatial ones.     

转型期俄罗斯区域经济发展空间差异研究

本文从区域地理的视角,通过对俄罗斯转型以来的经济地带、基本经济区、联邦区和联邦主体四个不同层面的区域经济发展空间差异的现状进行动态分析,得出俄区域经济发展差异具有三个鲜明的特征:一是无论在其经济整体下降或增长的同时均伴随着区域之间经济发展差异的绝对或相对扩大过程;二是区域之间经济发展空间差异反映了市场经济在不同区域的作用,即在市场条件基础较好和资源性外向型经济发展有利的区域经济增长优于其他区域;三是形成了大量的"低水平塌陷"区域,即经济指标低于全俄平均数的问题区域数量多,覆盖面大。在此基础上,从自然因素、市场发育水平、体制因素以及社会历史因素等方面探讨了各因素在区域经济发展中的不同作用。     

边境区位、边境区经济合作的理论与实践--以辽宁省-朝鲜边境地区经济合作为例

欧洲和北美的实践表明,边境地区经济合作具有推动经济全球化和区域经济一体化的作用,同时,经济全球化和区域经济一体化又促进了边境地区经济合作的发展。本文从边境区位的理论分析入手,探讨了边境区位再创造问题,并分析边境区位再创造与边境区经济合作的内在联系。最后,对辽宁省和朝鲜之间边境区经济合作做了实证研究。     

The Regional Impact of EU Eastern Enlargement: A View from Germany

Based on a relational concept of regional analysis this contribution emphasizes that European Union (EU) Eastern enlargement will primarily lead to a restructuring or intensification of interregional economic relations. However, it rejects the widespread view that at first the border regions at the present EU Eastern boundary would be affected by Eastern enlargement. This view relies on the problematic assumption that the regions' transnational relations are subject to a logic of geographical nearness. The most important nodes of transnational economic relations in an enlarged EU are not the border regions, but certain regional development centres in the interior of the European economic space. Thus the regional impact of EU Eastern enlargement should be differentiated with regard to different types of regions: Particular advantages come towards the structurally strong regions in the interior of the present EU as well as the accession countries, whereas the structurally weak regions at the present EU Eastern boundary can gain advantages from Eastern enlargement only to the extent that they manage to overcome their endogenous blockades concerning cross-border economic cooperation and a positive attitude of the regions' population towards European integration.     

Determinants of regional resilience to economic crisis: a European perspective

The impact of the economic crisis has been highly asymmetric across the European regions. The objective of this paper is to investigate the determinants of resilience to economic crisis across European regions. Regional economic resilience was assessed based on employment changes during 2008–2013, while socioeconomic determinants were analysed pre-crisis (2002–2007). A highly heterogeneous pattern of resilience was observed within countries, while significant differences were also revealed between the continental northern-central regions and the southern periphery. A multilevel logistic regression model indicated the magnitude of country-effects on the performance of regional employment during crisis periods. Both EU-referenced and country-referenced regional resilience identified the positive effect of accessibility and the negative effect of a large manufacturing sector in the ability of regions to withstand recessionary shocks. Education and economic development level positively affected the resilience of both large and small regional European economies. Investing in education enhances the spatial homogeneity across Europe in terms of its ability to react to economic shocks. The results reveal the importance of narrowing disparities among regions and formulating targeted and differentiated regional development policies at country level, taking into consideration the size of the economy of the regions.     

中外经济地域类型研究的理论与实践

本文对比分析了中外对经济地域(区域)及其类型研究的理论与实践,对经济地域的概念、类型进行了分析与总结,试图为我国区域经济理论的研究和经济地理学的发展以及如何有效地参与区域经济实践作出一点努力与尝试。     

The struggle of dutch transport regions: Life and death of a regional planning concept

In the Netherlands it was commonly believed that a comprehensive regional transport policy was the only way of achieving the objectives of national transport policy. A new institution was created: the transport region. Expectations ran high, but many transport regions never reached the implementation stage. Analysis of the national policy and the actual development of the transport regions shows a continuous struggle between the transport region as a policy concept on the one hand and the transport region as an administrative institution on the other. The anticlimax that resulted from this struggle seems to have been inevitable: the transport regions have officially been abolished. Their role has been taken over by the provinces. On the one hand, this provides opportunities for avoiding the mistakes made in the past. On the other hand, this shift holds threats, which may obstruct the making and implementation of effective regional transport policy.     

European Corridors as Carriers of Dynamic Agglomeration Externalities?

Transport corridors are viewed as a promising way forward in European Union (EU) transport policy, assumed to contribute positively to regional economic development. However, the validity of this assumption is not evident. The aim of this paper is to empirically test whether agglomeration economies in European transport corridor regions are positively related to indicators of regional economic development compared to regions outside the scope of corridors. The results build on the notion that the type of agglomeration economy in combination with the structure of the economy matters for prospects of structural economic growth in different regions. In this way, the analysis not only contributes to enhancing the empirical scrutiny of the corridor concept in EU transport policy, but also provides new insights into how corridors contribute to regional economic growth. We find only limited evidence for a corridor effect across European regions on productivity and employment growth externalities. Instead, we find a large degree of spatial heterogeneity interacting with corridors—a heterogeneity that has been little recognized in EU policies. We suggest that recent attention to place-based development strategies may accord well with the kinds of agglomeration effects related to corridor development observed in this study.     

The role of US defense exports in Asia Pacific regionalism

Despite the emergence of a regional economic space, political integration in the form of institutional building has yet to take shape in the Asia Pacific. On the one hand, the area is constructed as part of a localized space articulated in terms of relatively self-contained regional economic networks. On the other hand, Asia Pacific remains fractured in geopolitical structures, relying heavily on the US to organize the region, particularly in the post-war period. This paper focuses on the nature of lagging regional political integration and examines the role that US defense trade (1989–2004), and to a lesser extent military presence, plays in this. Specifically, it shows that US geopolitical strategy, influenced heavily by a realist framework, displays a pattern of bilateral courtship where its defense trade is positively related to allies in Asia. This relationship results in stronger trans-Pacific than regional linkages, inserting an otherwise localized Asian economic space into the more diffused global US-centered geopolitical space.     

The lagging regions of the EC in the face of economic and monetary union

Nationwide economic policies required to satisfy the Treaty of Maastricht will have a deep regional impact. This paper reflects on the trade‐offs, possibilities and transformations which the process leading towards economic and monetary union imposes on the development policies of peripheral regions. The space left for regional policy is reduced. Regional governments of peripheral regions should decode the pseudo‐modernizing language of neo‐liberal positions, press for greater fiscal resources and propose supply strategies within the framework of industrial policies on a regional basis.     

中国区域经济地理学的发展历程、现状与展望

区域经济地理学是一门既古老又年轻的学科,属于地理科学体系中区域地理的重要部分和经济地理学的重要分支。区域经济地理学的发展历程可以分为四个阶段。萌芽时期:从先秦到1909年德国工业经济学家Max Weber发表《工业区位论》为止,该时期主要探寻区域经济地理学的发展规律;奠基时期:从1910年到1949年新中国成立为止,为区域经济地理学研究框架的形成阶段;形成时期:新中国成立到1978年的十一届三中全会召开为止,该时期建立了相对完善的区域经济地理学学科体系;成熟时期:1979年至今,为该学科在中国区域开发中的广泛实践阶段。在中国区域经济地理学的发展过程中,陈才先生融合中外理论与经验用于中国实际,为中国本土区域经济地理学的理论基础与学科体系的形成与完善作出了创造性的杰出贡献。在总结了区域经济地理学的理论现状、方法现状和应用现状之后,认为区域经济地理学的未来发展趋势主要集中在三个方向:区域经济地理学与新经济地理学、区域经济学不断交融交互发展;"三维目标空间"理论将成为区域经济地理学研究的一种认识论;低碳经济的发展将赋予区域经济地理学研究的新内涵。     

EMU versus the regions? Regional convergence and divergence in Euroland

There is currently considerable interest in and debate overthe impact of increasing European economic and monetary integration(EMU) on the regions of the EU. Opinion is sharply divided overwhether EMU is leading to regional economic convergence or regionaleconomic divergence. This paper examines the theoretical argumentsand empirical evidence for these opposing views, and presentssome additional analysis of patterns of regional productivitytrends and employment growth over the period 1975–98.The picture that emerges is a complex one: whilst worker productivityshows only very weak convergence across the EU regions (a processwhich halted altogether after the mid-1980s), regional employmentgrowth has been sharply divergent. Although there is littlesupport for the claim that EMU will lead to regional convergence,these findings suggest that until much more detailed investigationof the specific impacts on particular types of region is undertaken,the regional implications of EMU will remain a contentious issue.     

Regional Policy and the 'Regionalization' of University-Industry Links: A View from the English Regions

As several senior figures in UK Government have recently professed to want to promote the knowledge-driven economy across the nation, discussion of university-industry ties in less-favoured regions is particularly salient. This account documents how UK central government efforts to encourage greater university-industry links have increasingly taken on a regional dimension but then stresses that these efforts do not constitute a 'regional policy' (in the traditional sense of measures that seek to reduce interregional economic disparities). This activity is then set within the context of overall Government and European Union (EU) funding to universities which is also at odds with stated government aims of lessening regional economic disparities. The article goes on to highlight how mainstream regional policy, particularly that of the European Commission, has seen considerable support for university-industry activity in the regions but has faced an uncertain future due largely to the spectre of fund-draining EU expansion. The article concludes by asking what policies might be pursued for university-industry links to be increased in weaker regions. The underlying aim of the article is to contribute towards raising the profile of universities in debates about reducing interregional economic disparities (that must, in turn, be much higher on the public policy agenda).     

Governance, institutional capacity and partnerships in local economic development: theoretical issues and empirical evidence from the Humber Sub-region

Recent research on local and regional economic development has focused upon transformations in local governance and institutional capacity. It has been argued that local authorities have ceded power to other actors and institutions involved in economic development and regeneration, and that the success of local and regional economic development is closely related to the strength of 'institutional capacity' within an area. In this paper, we examine these claims with reference to the operation of EU Structural Funds in the Humber Sub-region of the UK. Previous research on local governance and institutional capacity has had a limited empirical focus, drawing conclusions from studies of either economically 'successful' regions or regions undergoing regulatory and institutional transformation and precluding analysis of the nature and conditions of local governance and institutional capacity in less developed regions. Our case study evidence not only suggests that arguments about the declining influence of the local state are overdrawn, but also indicates a need for more nuanced accounts of the role of institutional capacity in regional development.     

The regional impact of the channel tunnel: Qualitative and quantitative analysis

The paper addresses the question of how different types of regions mill be affected by the development of a major new transport infrastructure such as the Channel Tunnel. It summarizes a study on the regional impacts of the Channel Tunnel throughout the European Union (EU). The research design combined qualitative methods of futures exploration employing 13 regional case studies with quantitative forecasting techniques using the MEPLAN transport and economic model. The paper presents the methodology and major results of the two approaches with respect to the impacts of the Channel Tunnel on transport flows and regional development in Europe and draws conclusions for transport and regional policy of the EU. The paper demonstrates that the removal of a bottleneck like the Channel Tunnel does not necessarily induce economic gains in all adjacent regions. Much more important for regional economic development than the reduction of transport costs are the image to be a region well integrated into the European high‐speed transport network and an active political response of the region to take advantage of opportunities like the Channel Tunnel.