IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v46y2009i3p537-557.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Governance in the English Regions: The Role of the Regional Development Agencies

Author

Listed:
  • Graham Pearce

    (Aston Business School, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK, g.r.a.pearce@aston.ac.uk)

  • Sarah Ayres

    (School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, 8 Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TZ, UK, sarah.ayres@bristol.ac.uk)

Abstract

In the absence of regional government, New Labour has pursued a process of administrative decentralisation in the English regions outside London, including the appointment of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), charged with stimulating economic modernisation and assisting in reducing regional economic disparities. They have acquired a key position as strategic power-brokers situated between the agendas of Whitehall and the demands of sub-national interests. RDAs operate, however, within complex, competing structures, tied to meeting nationally determined targets and too little attention has been given to capturing their overall effectiveness. Reflecting New Labour's rejection of the need for a more even spread of economic activity between regions, RDAs also lack sufficient resources to make a significant impact on economic disparities. Treasury-led reforms could see the agencies taking responsibility for preparing single regional strategies, but there are contradictions between their remit to increase economic growth and deliver social and environmental objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Graham Pearce & Sarah Ayres, 2009. "Governance in the English Regions: The Role of the Regional Development Agencies," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(3), pages 537-557, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:46:y:2009:i:3:p:537-557
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098008100994
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098008100994
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098008100994?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. John Harrison, 2007. "From competitive regions to competitive city-regions: a new orthodoxy, but some old mistakes," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 311-332, May.
    2. Gordon MacLeod, 2001. "New Regionalism Reconsidered: Globalization and the Remaking of Political Economic Space," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 804-829, December.
    3. Martin Jones & Mark Goodwin & Rhys Jones, 2005. "State modernization, devolution and economic governance: An introduction and guide to debate," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 397-403.
    4. David Heald & John Short, 2002. "The Regional Dimension of Public Expenditure in England," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(7), pages 743-755.
    5. A Harding & S Wilks-Heeg & M Hutchins, 1999. "Regional Development Agencies and English Regionalisation: The Question of Accountability," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 17(6), pages 669-683, December.
    6. Stephen FOTHER Gill, 2005. "A new regional policy for Britain," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 659-667.
    7. Charlie Jeffery & Daniel Wincott, 0. "Devolution in the United Kingdom: Statehood and Citizenship in Transition," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 3-18.
    8. Eric Mcvittie & J. Kim Swales, 2007. "'Constrained Discretion' in UK Monetary and Regional Policy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 267-280.
    9. Mark Goodwin & Martin Jones & Rhys Jones, 2005. "Devolution, constitutional change and economic development: Explaining and understanding the new institutional geographies of the British state," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 421-436.
    10. Iain McLean & Alistair McMillan, 2003. "The Distribution of Public Expenditure across the UK Regions," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 24(1), pages 45-71, March.
    11. Andres Rodriguez-Pose & Nicholas Gill, 2005. "On the 'economic dividend' of devolution," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 405-420.
    12. Graham Pearce & Sarah Ayres, 2007. "Emerging Patterns of Governance in the English Regions: The Role of Regional Assemblies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 699-712.
    13. John Lovering, 2001. "The Coming Regional Crisis (And How To Avoid It)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 349-354.
    14. C. Fuller & R. J. Bennett & M. Ramsden, 2002. "The Economic Development Role of English RDAs: The Need for Greater Discretionary Power," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 421-428.
    15. Kevin Morgan, 0. "Devolution and Development: Territorial Justice and the North-South Divide," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 189-206.
    16. Eric McVittie & J. Kim Swales, 2007. "The Information Requirements for an Effective Regional Policy: A Critique of the Allsopp Review," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(3), pages 425-438, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Vanino & Stephen Roper & Bettina Becker, 2020. "Knowledge to Money: Assessing the Business Performance Effects of Publicly Funded R&D Grants," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 17(04), pages 20-24, January.
    2. Yasmine Willi, Marco P tz, Heike Mayer, 2018. "Policy Entrepreneurship and Regional Development," Diskussionsschriften credresearchpaper21, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft - CRED.

    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. John Harrison, 2008. "Stating the Production of Scales: Centrally Orchestrated Regionalism, Regionally Orchestrated Centralism," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 922-941, December.
    2. David Bailey & Nigel Driffield, 2007. "Industrial Policy, FDI and Employment: Still ‘Missing a Strategy’," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 189-211, December.
    3. Eric McVittie & J. Kim Swales, 2007. "The Information Requirements for an Effective Regional Policy: A Critique of the Allsopp Review," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(3), pages 425-438, March.
    4. repec:rdg:wpaper:em-dp2007-48 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Pike, Andy & Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Torrisi, Gianpiero & Tselios, Vassilis & Tomaney, John, 2010. "In search of the ‘economic dividend’ of devolution: spatial disparities, spatial economic policy and decentralisation in the UK," DEMQ Working Paper Series 2010/9, University of Catania, Department of Economics and Quantitative Methods.
    6. David Clelland, 2020. "Beyond the city region? Uneven governance and the evolution of regional economic development in Scotland," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 35(1), pages 7-26, February.
    7. lain Deas & Alex Lord, 2006. "From a New Regionalism to an Unusual Regionalism? The Emergence of Non-standard Regional Spaces and Lessons for the Territorial Reorganisation of the State," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(10), pages 1847-1877, September.
    8. David Waite & Duncan Maclennan & Tony O’Sullivan, 2013. "Emerging city policies: Devolution, deals and disorder," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(7-8), pages 770-785, November.
    9. ., 2014. "Devolution, city governance and economic performance," Chapters, in: Urban Economics and Urban Policy, chapter 7, pages 157-184, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Dave Valler & Juliet Carpenter, 2010. "New Labour's Spaces of Competitiveness," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 25(5-6), pages 438-456, August.
    11. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Anne Krøijer, 2009. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in Central and Eastern Europe," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 387-417, September.
    12. Edgar Morgenroth, 2010. "Regional Dimension of Taxes and Public Expenditure in Ireland," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(6), pages 777-789.
    13. Schmid, Hillel & Dolev, Talal & Szabo-Lael, Rachel, 2010. "Community-based programs for children at risk: The case of budget flexibility in Departments of Social Services in Israel," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 178-184, February.
    14. Graham Haughton & Philip Allmendinger, 2015. "Fluid Spatial Imaginaries: Evolving Estuarial City-regional Spaces," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 857-873, September.
    15. Vassilis Monastiriotis & Yiannis Psycharis, 2011. "Without purpose and strategy? A spatio-functional analysis of the regional allocation of public investment in Greece," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 49, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    16. HaeRan Shin & Se Hoon Park & Jung Won Sonn, 2015. "The emergence of a multiscalar growth regime and scalar tension: the politics of urban development in Songdo New City, South Korea," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(6), pages 1618-1638, December.
    17. Peter Gripaios & Paul Bishop, 2005. "Policy Debates Government Output and Expenditure in UK Regions and Sub-regions: An Analysis of the New Experimental Accounts Data," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 805-813.
    18. Robert Huggins & Nick Clifton, 2011. "Competitiveness, Creativity, and Place-Based Development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(6), pages 1341-1362, June.
    19. Martin, Hanna & Martin, Roman, 2016. "Policy capacities for new regional industrial path development – The case of new media and biogas in southern Sweden," Papers in Innovation Studies 2016/25, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    20. Harrison, John, 2012. "Towards the new "regional world"?," Arbeitsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Growe, Anna & Heider, Katharina & Lamker, Christian & Paßlick, Sandra & Terfrüchte, Thomas (ed.), Polyzentrale Stadtregionen - Die Region als planerischer Handlungsraum, volume 3, pages 10-21, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    21. Yannis Psycharis, 2008. "Public Spending Patterns: the regional allocation of public investment in Greece by political period," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 14, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:urbstu:v:46:y:2009:i:3:p:537-557. 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: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    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.