The Political-Economy of Place-Based Policies with a Focus on Special Economic Zones

Date de la Conférence: 23-24 Avril, 2015 Varsovie, Pologne
Appel A Communications

(Date limite pour les Contributions: 31 Décembre 2014)

(détails disponibles seulement en Anglais)

The role of place-based policies for regional development
While locale has always played a central role in any economic enquiry within an economic development and growth context, the absence of its political-economy aspects from in particular the economic literature on regions or regional aspects of development is striking. This is perhaps because in the new economic geography the idea that economic agglomeration is a ‘natural’ result or outcome of a free market economy processes of pull and push (Williamson, 1988) or centripetal and centrifugal (Krugman, 1998) forces has been the dominant paradigm in the mainstream literature during at least the last two decades (and perhaps much longer).
The very opposite idea emerges from the literature on regional economic systems (Cooke et al, 1998). The perspective on regional competitiveness emanating from this tradition is that the emancipation of place by itself for competitiveness purposes is difficult and also dependent on factors such as timing and coincidence (Kitson et al, 2004, Barca et al, 2012). The problem for the regional planners becomes how to ensure the long-term competitiveness in a world of increasingly footloose factors of production.

However, despite the trivial role of chance and the challenges of globalization, place can in this perspective seek to differentiate itself by encouraging for example infrastructure and institution building in ways that convert policy efforts into lasting outcomes that will have a consequently marked effect on the behavior of both businesses, people and governments. Only then does the policy effort effectively convert into lasting institutions, formal as well as informal. But to date there is a lack of understanding exactly how this conversion happens and what are the best tools politically to achieve it for long-term competitiveness.

Pour plus de détails sur les sujets, publications…etc. (téléchargez le  fichier PDF)

Date Limite
The deadline for submission of papers is December 31, 2014. Full papers are preferred, although extended abstracts (5-10 pages) will also be accepted, with the understanding that the full paper is submitted by January 31, 2015. Authors will be notified by February 13. 2015. The papers and abstracts should be submitted to conference.sez@case-research.eu

Allez sur le site de CASE pour cet Appel