Performance evaluation to support European regional development – A university–industry perspective

Regional-level innovation policies and development activities, which are not only technology oriented but that also address intellectual issues, knowledge and absorptive capacity enhancement as sources of innovation and economic growth, are posing challenges regarding their management. One of the main challenges that arises with these new types of regional-level development activities relates to their evaluation because insufficient attention is paid to the design and building of the current evaluation frameworks suggested for the context of regional development. This study presents a framework to design and build a performance evaluation system to support the performance measurement of regional development activities. Utilizing operational-level development activities as an empirical example, this study aims to improve the understanding of performance evaluation in university–industry collaborations in the context of regional development. The presented framework highlights the role of evaluation as part of the learning process in regional development activities between universities and industrial and public-sector organizations. The results of the study show that it is also possible to use the evaluation system to increase understanding of the interplay between operational level development activities and regional development programmes.     

Border-regional resilience in EU internal and external border areas in Finland

European border regions have witnessed a long history of remarkable mobility shocks stemming from complex ecological and economic changes and geopolitical events. The experience of near-continuous regional and global crisis has increased interest towards the idea of resilience, that is, the ability of communities and regions to adapt and cope with disturbances and transitions. Inspired by the literature of regional resilience and the evolutionary approach, this paper will examine the difference that borders and geopolitical conditions make from the perspective of regional resilience and especially ‘border-regional resilience’. Particular focus will be on irregular cross-border mobilities and consequent transitions in EU external and internal border towns, here the Finnish towns of Lappeenranta and Tornio. The study points out that the geopolitical environment and the openness of the border partly determine the regional development trajectories and the ways of coping with cross-border mobility-related changes. Although the border location entails some vulnerability, formal and informal cross-border institutions and relations of trust are of crucial importance from the perspective of border-regional resilience. The paper proposes a research agenda for studying border-regional resilience in the context of environmental, economic and social changes and geopolitical events.     

Cooperation differs. Intentions of municipalities towards metropolitan cooperation in post-socialist space – Brno,Czech Republic

The long-term regional policy of metropolitan regions contributes to the socio-economic development of the entire functional region as it prevents the disharmony in the activity of the interested actors. In the Czech environment, metropolitan cooperation has not been institutionalized yet, which is remarkable while its importance is emphasized in many developed countries and the development of metropolitan regions is greatly supported by EU through the tool ITI. Moreover, a fully-fledged expert interdisciplinary discussion on this issue, which would provide valid conclusions for the needs of the planning practice, is developing rather slowly. The presented contribution is filling this research gap by analysing and assessing the potential of municipalities for metropolitan cooperation in post-socialist space (mainly through institutional cooperation), using a relevant literature, assessing the results of a questionnaire survey and empirical experiences from the model territory of Brno metropolitan area (BMA). The results of the research indicate a willingness to set-up more formal institutionalization of metropolitan cooperation. It would be feasible to transfer some competencies to a newly established metropolitan expert platform/agency. However, cooperation is significantly linked to the awareness of its benefits (not only of a financial character) and to the requirement of keeping ‘basic’ self-governing competencies.     

Red rural,blue rural? Presidential voting patterns in a changing rural America

This paper examines individual and aggregate data to document the growing political diversity in rural America. This political diversity is evident in the various economies within rural America. The new rural economy is reflected in recreational counties, where natural and built amenities combined with the provision of services to residents and visitors are the basis for the local economy. Residents of recreational counties tend to be more liberal than their rural peers on a variety of political issues, and supported Barack Obama at significantly higher levels in 2008 and 2012. In contrast, in regions dominated by the old rural economy of farming, political views are more conservative and there is far less support for Democrats in general and President Obama in particular. An analysis of survey data combined with multivariate spatial regression analysis demonstrates that these differences between the old and new rural economy persist even when a variety of demographic, economic, social and geographic variables are controlled.     

Employment growth and regional development: industrial change and contextual differences between Denmark and Sweden

This paper explores the potential drivers behind uneven regional development in the context of employment growth in Denmark and Sweden. In particular, we are interested in the roles of urbanization, industrial change and the rise of the new economy as manifested in the growth of the two economies in 2002–2007. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to analyse the impact of a number of key industrial sectors on regional employment growth in the two countries. The empirical analysis is based on longitudinal matched employer–employee data retrieved from official registers in each economy from 2002 to 2007, a period of strong national growth following the crisis of early 2000. Our findings indicate that the two economies follow a similar pattern in addressing total employment growth; but looking at changes in employment levels across the national borders of these two relatively similar open economies, we find that, although in general these economies react relatively similarly to changes, embarking on a narrower analysis of the individual sectors reveals marked national differences. This indicates that context matters in the analysis of regional economic dynamics in terms of structure, system and policy.     

A review of (almost) 20 years of regional innovation systems research

ABSTRACT

The literature on regional innovation systems (RISs) has grown impressively in the last two decades. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive assessment of all RIS articles published in scholarly journals between 1998 and 2015. It aims to inform researchers of the empirical results obtained so far and highlight areas that need further work. This review describes how the RIS field has developed, charts the current body of RIS research and discusses recommendations for moving the RIS field forward.     

A Review of Volume 5 of the Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics,Parts III and IV

This paper reviews parts III and IV of the recent Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics. Many of the surveys within the Handbook relate to two phenomena of interest: the recent boom and bust cycle in U.S. housing markets, and the striking growth of home prices in a few global “Superstar Cities.” Real Estate and Urban economists have made progress in modeling these phenomena. There is considerable room for future research, however. There is no coherent story explaining U.S. home price movements in the 2000s that does not run afoul of important stylized facts. We also have not yet identified the relative importance of supply constraints and demand growth in the rise of Superstar City prices.     

区域开发可持续发展的对策研究

持续发展是中国未来发展的现实选择。文章概述了持续发展的涵义实质及现实意义;阐明了持续发展的战略思想与战略目标;论述了实现持续发展的区域开发。认为持续发展是区域开发中各种因素的动态平衡与协调;区域开发建设要满足持续发展战略的要求;区域开发政策的制订也要把持续发展的思想贯穿其中。     

建设生态示范区——推动区域可持续发展的实践模式

本文在分析国内外生态示范区建设的背景及实践的基础上,论述了区域可持续发展与生态示范区建设的内涵,讨论了生态示范区建设规划的编制程序及突出特点。     

中国旅游资源的开发评价、途径和对策

分别从历史发展和多民族分布对文化风光,从地域分异规律对自然风光进行旅游开发评价,划分中国1级旅游文化区,以华北区为例划分2、3级旅游文化区,对海内外客人分层次讨论其旅游目的地选择。区域旅游不能完全取代跨区的长线旅游。指出中国旅游开发的途径和对策,对中国旅游业发展要有一个清醒的估计,不能有过高的期望。