Governance, Institutional Change and Regional Development

Mike Danson, Henrick Halkier, Greta Cameron

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138637597
• eBook ISBN: 9781351793285
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Sociología

This title was first published in 2000: This volume addresses the prominent role given to institution-building, institutional change and governance in the regional development strategies and policies. The establishment of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, and the arrival of regional development agencies in England highlighted the need to put the initiatives into some context, drawing on experience from across Europe on the critical factors in the determination of the potential and success of regions. Central to the discussions presented here by a group of European experts are the question of governance - how does an ongoing process of institution-building affect the ways in which regions and localities are governed, including questions of democracy, participation, regional self-determination, public-private partnerships, networks and accountability; and the consequences of new modes of governance and institutional change for regional development strategies and policies, particularly in the context of large-scale industrial restructuring and city-region and urban regeneration.

Part I
Introduction

1 Regional Governance, Institutional Change and Regional Development

MIKE DANSON, HENRIK HALKIER AND GRETA CAMERON

Europe is currently experiencing two parallel developments: the increasing political importance of the regional level and the proliferation of regionally-based initiatives in economic promotion and development. Both have important consequences for the distribution of the institutionalised capacity which has been established to take and influence decisions with regard to the long-term future and development of a particular locality: in short, for the patterns of regional governance. This volume highlights the prominent role given to institution-building and institutional change in regional development within the EU towards the end of the millennium. Although institutions, networks and partnerships rather than policies often seem to be the answer to regional problems, they have also been stimulated by the general acknowledgement across the social sciences of the importance of institutional issues. Reflecting this, within the UK the establishment of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, and the imminent arrival of regional development agencies on the already crowded economic development landscape of England emphasise the need to put these initiatives into some context and, given the primary role of the EU in shaping that landscape, to draw on experience from across Europe. It is widely recognised and stressed in the publications of the European Commission and of the UNIDO that institutions and governance are the critical factors in the determination of the potential and success of Europe's regions. A comparative analysis of developments across Europe, therefore, is a key dimension to this book.

Much of the analysis of the trend towards decentralisation, albeit that devolution has been uneven across Europe, has often primarily been undertaken from the perspective that equates this with an increase in democracy. This approach has seen the national level as an inherently centralising force, which only reluctantly is giving way to the rising tide of regionalism, with its demands for enhanced levels of self-determination. While this is, undoubtedly, in many cases an important part of the story, there is, however, also another side to the trends towards decentralisation. In particular, central government can be accused of relieving itself of responsibility for policy areas that have become a liability. This can arise because the centre lacks the resources to manage them effectively, because the economic burden can be off-loaded by passing them onto lower tiers of government, or because the political burden of being responsible for unsuccessful policies is deemed to be high.

In this summary introduction, the rationale for this volume is advanced against this background, explaining why it is an opportune moment to address the main themes of governance and institutional change in exploring regional development. By definition, therefore, it argues that it is necessary to use a wider range of theoretical approaches to the analysis of recent changes in the economic performances and structures of areas, in contrast to the normal practice. An aim of this chapter is to offer an insight into the relevant literature on developments in institutional and governance theory, and to set the scene for the rest of the book. The chapter identifies and interprets the issues and different perspectives brought to recent debates by a range of disciplines, including economics, organisational development, politics and geography. The structure of the different sections on 'partnership and regional development', 'networking and regional governance' and 'regional development and multi-level governance' are described in brief. The main conclusions drawn by the editors from the papers reproduced here and accessed at several workshops over the last few years are presented at the end of the book.

Two aspects are central to the discussions presented here:

• the question of governance-how does the ongoing process of institution-building affect the ways in which the regions and localities are governed, including questions of democracy, participation, regional self-determination, public-private partnerships and accountability;
• the consequences of new modes of governance and institutional change for regional development strategies and policies, particularly in the context of large-scale industrial restructuring and city-region and urban regeneration.

In addressing the emerging issues of regional governance and institutional capacity this book reflects the growing intellectual interest in regional development, institutional and evolutionary economics, fiscal federalism, and the devolution of powers down from the level of the nation state. For instance, recent publications edited by Amin and Thrift (1994), Heinelt and Smith (1996), Hooghe (1996), Newlands and McCarthy (1999), Danson, Hill and Lloyd (1997) and the reference work by Wannop (1994) address various aspects of these themes.

This volume is based on the research of a network of experts across Europe who are involved in the analysis of institutions, governance and regional development. Many of the authors contributed to our previous edited book on 'Regional Development Agencies in Europe' (Halkier, Danson and Damborg 1998) which provided a comprehensive and scientific approach to the analysis of the development agency as semiautonomous institutions, This new book complements and builds upon the conclusions of that publication. Other authors have been commissioned specially to contribute papers on particular experiences with certain models of sub-national structures or with the need to come to terms with the wider forces of globalisation, flexibility and the rise of European Union institutions.

A critical conclusion of the earlier book was that regional development agencies (RDAs) are beginning to evolve into organisations which do not aim to deliver economic development services directly as much as to co-ordinate these activities. Acting as catalysts in this way, they progress the concept of such agencies beyond simple bodies engaged in development themselves towards working in partnership with other players in the regional economy.

Reflecting the traditional form of these agencies, much analysis to date on their role and that of European and regional partnerships within different environments has focused on their policies, programmes and performances, utilising traditional economic evaluation techniques. Their evolution into and the establishment of new forms of development institutions suggest that new theoretical approaches and assessments are required. Significant as these institutions are in the delivery of regional economic strategies across the developed world, witnessed by the imminent introduction of RDAs to the English regions, there is a clear need to consider their position within the overall structures of governance. It is important to analyse how areas are administered as well as governed, therefore, in considering regional economic development structures and strategies.

In the background studies for this volume and in the editing of papers from a broad network of researchers, it has been clearly apparent that a range of methodologies have been applied to the study of governance and institutional change by the contributing authors. Indeed, without recourse to a range of disciplines, it would not have been possible to gain an understanding of the matrix of forms and structures implemented across Europe. The theoretical bases to the analyses of the case study areas and the variety of institutional frameworks have been essential in the attempts to compare and contrast these different experiences. A corollary, of course, is that no one discipline or approach has been adopted universally to explain the development of governance and institutions within or between countries.

In the following section, a number of theoretical approaches are applied which owe their origins to American studies. Although some of these translate well to the European environment, including the organisational theories of, for instance, DiMaggio and Powell (1983), others are less able to travel successfully. A good example of this latter problem is demonstrated by Cecilia Wong in chapter 4 who shows that urban regime theory is strong on predictions that do not do particularly well having crossed the Atlantic. Others have used developments of institutionalism/network theory, combining aspects of organisational theory with traditional themes in political science to examine the evolution of partnerships of organisations and authorities. The increasing concern and associated literature on competitiveness of small and medium enterprises and the promotion of intelligent regions in the (re-)generation of the economies of particular areas is applied herein by a number of authors. They therefore place institutional thickness and capacity at the heart of the analysis of the economic development process, reflecting the preoccupation of a sizable paradigm in the 1980s (Macleod 1996).

In discussing multilevel governance, a growth industry in its own right within political science, the 'actor-centred' approach that specifies the role of particular individuals and institutions in the decision making process (Marks et al. 1996, p.346) has been adopted in explaining some of the developments within Europe. By way of contrast, at the national level, the 'power-dependence' approach has been applied to aid understanding of the relationship between central government and sub-central public bodies (Rhodes 1988). To an extent, the 'policy network' approach addressed below in the final section goes some way to highlighting the associations between these two theories in its recognition of the importance of a multitude of actors exchanging information, expertise and other resources at both the national and European levels.

Across the sections and chapters here, it is possible to identify some common features in the application of frameworks for analyses. These reflect the disciplinary backgrounds of the authors but also the obvious need to adopt multi-disciplinary approaches to examine such complex issues as regional governance and institutions in a rapidly changing political and economic environment. There is a focus, therefore, on relations of power, the exchange of resources, and the willingness to accept that institutional and organisational features influence policy and have their own generic dynamics.

This volume discusses questions related to the relationship between governance, institutional change and regional development under three main headings, providing the basic structure of the book:

• on a micro-level the relationship between individual development bodies and their environment is explored under the heading of 'Partnership and regional development'. Building strong relationships with private sector firms and organisations has been seen as a priority for public and semi-public development agencies, and the actual experience in European regions, both the difficulties and the successes, needs to be subjected to critical and theoretically informed analysis;
• on a meso-level the role of development agencies in the political make-up of their region is examined under the heading 'Networking and regional governance'. The increasing reliance on individual agencies or networks of development bodies raises important questions about the relationship between functional efficiency and democratic legitimacy, not least when the European dimension in the form of Structural Funds programmes is involved;
• on a macro-level the relationship between regionally-based initiatives and the emerging European system of governance in Western Europe is discussed under the heading of 'Regional development and multi-level governance'. The last few decades have seen a decreasing role for the traditional regional subsidy programmes of central government and a veritable explosion of bottom-up development bodies and initiatives, and through the Structural Funds these two levels have been linked together in an intricate pattern spanning across Europe. In the search for knowledge about the new developments on the regional and European levels, the transformed role of central government has been somewhat overlooked and therefore considering the relationship between the regional, national and European levels of governance is very much a worthwhile task.

Each section is introduced with a presentation of the themes, theories and findings developed in the following chapters, with an overall introduction and conclusion to make a coherent volume and set of arguments.

Despite the breadth of contrasting theoretical approaches in this book, there does appear to be some consensus identifying where experiences and practices are transportable and where developments are regional specific. This suggests that the EU and national developments are creating the need for an evolving research agenda for regional commentators. Undoubtedly, with the apparently contradictory movements towards both greater powers for supra-national bodies such as the European Union on the one hand, and enhanced devolution to sub-national levels on the other, the theme of this volume will become ever more crucial. In this environment, a better understanding of the underpinnings of successful regional governance structures and regional institutions will be an essential feature in determining the sustainable development of communities across Europe.

References

Amin, A. and Thrift, N. (eds) (1994) Globalization, Institutions and Regional Development in Europe. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Danson, M., Hill, S. and Lloyd, G. (eds) (1997) Regional Governance and Economic Development. European Research in Regional Science 7, London: Pion.

DiMaggio, P.J and Powell, W. (1983) 'The iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields.' American Sociological Review 48, 147-60.

Halkier, H., Danson, M. and Damborg, C. (eds) (1998) Regional Development Agencies in Europe. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Heinelt, H. and Smith, R. (eds) (1996) Policy Networks and European Structural Funds. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Hooghe, L (ed.) (1996) Cohesion Policy and European Integration. Building Multi-level Governance. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Macleod, G. (1996) 'The cult of enterprise in a networked, learning region? Governing business and skills in lowland Scotland.' Regional Studies 30, 749-756.

Marks, G., Hooghe, L. and Kermit, B. (1996) 'European integration from the 1980s: statecentric v. multi-level governance.' Journal of Common Market Studies 34, 3, 341-78.

Newlands, D. and McCarthy, J. (eds) (1999) Governing Scotland: Problems and Prospects The Economic Impact of the Scottish Parliament. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Rhodes, R.A.W. (1988) Beyond Westminster and Whitehall-The Sub-central Governments of Britain. London: Unwin Hyman,

Wannop, U. (1994) The Regional Imperative: Regional Planning and Governance in Britain, Europe and the US. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Tables
• Figures
• Contributors
• PART I INTRODUCTION
• PART II PARTNERSHIP AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• PART III NETWORKING AND REGIONAL GOVERNANCE
• PART IV REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MULTI-LEVEL GOVERNANCE
• PART V PERSPECTIVE
• Index