Theories of regional economic development: a brief survey

• Autor(a) principal: Sousa, Sónia
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34632/povoseculturas.2010.8651

The purpose of this paper is to provide a survey of the major theories of regional economic development that have guided the strategies and programs of regional economic development put in place over the last decades. The goal of this survey is fourfold. The first is to identify the major features of each theory. The second is to highlight similarities and contrasts among them. The third is to assess their major strengths and weaknesses with a view to underline the regional context where such theories can provide a better framework for regional analysis. The fourth is to discuss the factors missing in the mainstream theories of regional development that recent empirical evidence has demonstrated to play a crucial role in regional development in an era of economic globalization. Among them, and of particular relevance for regions located in developed economies, are: institutional framework, local innovative milieu and technological competitiveness, and local entrepreneurial capacity.