IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v25y2011i2p130-142.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industrial Legacy Matters: Implications for the Development and Use of Indices of Regional Competitiveness

Author

Listed:
  • David L. Barkley

    (Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA, dbrkly@clemson.edu)

  • Rebekka M. Dudensing

    (Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA)

Abstract

This article addresses the usefulness of indices of regional competitiveness in guiding economic development strategies for communities with different industrial legacies. Growth models for employment and per capita income are estimated for 151 metropolitan areas in the Southern United States. The explanatory variables for regional growth include measures of New Economy inputs (innovation, human capital, and entrepreneurial environment) and industry structure (composition, size, age, and diversity). The findings indicate that metro growth rates in per capita income are associated primarily with New Economy inputs whereas employment growth rates are related primarily to industry structure characteristics. In addition, interaction terms between the policy and structure variables indicate that policy inferences from indices of competitiveness should vary by city type. For example, increases in knowledge workers and entrepreneurial environment are more positively associated with income growth rates in the smaller, more specialized metropolitan areas. Economic history and industrial legacy matter in the application of competitiveness indices to inform economic development policy.

Suggested Citation

  • David L. Barkley & Rebekka M. Dudensing, 2011. "Industrial Legacy Matters: Implications for the Development and Use of Indices of Regional Competitiveness," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(2), pages 130-142, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:25:y:2011:i:2:p:130-142
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242410393951
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242410393951
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242410393951?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Florida, 2002. "Bohemia and economic geography," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 55-71, January.
    2. Berry, Christopher R. & Glaeser, Edward L., 2005. "Divergence of Human Capital Levels across Cities," Working Paper Series rwp05-057, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    3. Robert W. Fairlie & Alicia M. Robb, 2008. "Race and Entrepreneurial Success: Black-, Asian-, and White-Owned Businesses in the United States," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026206281x, December.
    4. R. Jason Faberman, 2011. "The Relationship Between The Establishment Age Distribution And Urban Growth," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 450-470, August.
    5. Michael Porter, 2003. "The Economic Performance of Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6-7), pages 549-578.
    6. Edward Malecki, 2004. "Jockeying for Position: What It Means and Why It Matters to Regional Development Policy When Places Compete," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 1101-1120.
    7. Gillian Bristow, 2005. "Everyone's a 'winner': problematising the discourse of regional competitiveness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 285-304, June.
    8. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    9. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-95-4 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    11. Randall W. Eberts & George Erickcek & Jack Kleinhenz, 2006. "Dashboard indicators for the Northeast Ohio economy: prepared for the Fund for Our Economic Future," Working Papers (Old Series) 0605, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    12. Francis J. Greene & Paul Tracey & Marc Cowling, 2007. "Recasting the City into City‐Regions: Place Promotion, Competitiveness Benchmarking and the Quest for Urban Supremacy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 1-22, March.
    13. Roberto Camagni, 2002. "On the Concept of Territorial Competitiveness: Sound or Misleading?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 39(13), pages 2395-2411, December.
    14. Glaeser, Edward L. & Scheinkman, JoseA. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1995. "Economic growth in a cross-section of cities," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 117-143, August.
    15. Stephan J. Goetz & David Freshwater, 2001. "State-Level Determinants of Entrepreneurship and a Preliminary Measure of Entrepreneurial Climate," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 15(1), pages 58-70, February.
    16. Haughwout, Andrew F., 1998. "Aggregate Production Functions, Interregional Equilibrium, and the Measurement of Infrastructure Productivity," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 216-227, September.
    17. Michael Kitson & Ron Martin & Peter Tyler, 2004. "Regional Competitiveness: An Elusive yet Key Concept?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 991-999.
    18. Christopher R. Berry & Edward L. Glaeser, 2005. "The divergence of human capital levels across cities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(3), pages 407-444, August.
    19. Joseph Cortright & Heike Mayer, 2004. "Increasingly Rank: the Use and Misuse of Rankings in Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 18(1), pages 34-39, February.
    20. John I. Carruthers & Gordon F. Mulligan, 2008. "A locational analysis of growth and change in American metropolitan areas," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(2), pages 155-171, June.
    21. Christopher R. Berry & Edward L. Glaeser, 2005. "The Divergence of Human Capital Levels across Cities," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2091, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    22. Jeremy L. Hall, 2007. "Developing Historical 50-State Indices of Innovation Capacity and Commercialization Capacity," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 21(2), pages 107-123, May.
    23. Christopher R. Berry & Edward L. Glaeser, 2005. "The Divergence of Human Capital Levels Across Cities," NBER Working Papers 11617, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Ron Boschma, 2004. "Competitiveness of Regions from an Evolutionary Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 1001-1014.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter Mayerhofer & Oliver Fritz & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2010. "Dritter Bericht zur internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Wiens," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 42430, January.
    2. repec:rre:publsh:v:40:y:2010:i:2:p:197-226 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Aurélie LALANNE & Guillaume POUYANNE, 2012. "Ten years of metropolization in economics: a bibliometric approach (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    4. repec:rre:publsh:v:38:y:2008:i:2:p:121-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Viktor A. Venhorst, 2017. "Human capital spillovers in Dutch cities: consumption or productivity?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 793-817, November.
    6. Südekum, Jens, 2008. "Convergence of the skill composition across German regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 148-159, March.
    7. Winters, John V., 2011. "Human capital, higher education institutions, and quality of life," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 446-454, September.
    8. John V. Winters, 2013. "Human capital externalities and employment differences across metropolitan areas of the USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(5), pages 799-822, September.
    9. Chein, Flávia & Assunção, Juliano Junqueira & Lemos, Mauro Borges, 2009. "Custos de Transporte, Urbanização e Desenvolvimento: Evidências a Partir da Criação de Cidades," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 63(3), August.
    10. Adelheid Holl, 2018. "Local employment growth patterns and the Great Recession: The case of Spain," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 837-863, September.
    11. Kwok Tong Soo, 2018. "Innovation across cities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 295-314, March.
    12. Haifeng Qian, 2017. "Skills and knowledge-based entrepreneurship: evidence from US cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(10), pages 1469-1482, October.
    13. Suzanne Kok & Bas ter Weel, 2014. "Cities, Tasks, And Skills," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(5), pages 856-892, November.
    14. John V. Winters, 2011. "Human Capital and Population Growth in Nonmetropolitan U.S. Counties," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(4), pages 353-365, November.
    15. Breandán Ó hUallacháin, 2011. "Does inventive intensity affect urban prosperity?," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(4), pages 401-420, November.
    16. Edward L. Glaeser & Giacomo A. M. Ponzetto & Kristina Tobio, 2014. "Cities, Skills and Regional Change," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(1), pages 7-43, January.
    17. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács & Roger R. Stough, 2015. "Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 14, pages 257-285, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Haifeng Qian, 2010. "Talent, creativity and regional economic performance: the case of China," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 133-156, August.
    19. Peter Mayerhofer & Matthias Firgo & Stefan Schönfelder, 2015. "Vierter Bericht zur internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Wiens," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60625, January.
    20. Winters, John V, 2010. "Human Capital and Population Growth in Non-Metropolitan U.S. Counties: The Importance of College Student Migration," MPRA Paper 25592, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 2011. "Entrepreneurs and cities: Complexity, thickness and balance," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 550-559.
    22. Krenz, Astrid, 2016. "Agglomeration of knowledge in the German regional economy," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 277, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:25:y:2011:i:2:p:130-142. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.