Dr Riccardo Crescenzi

Primarily for students taking MSc Local Economic Development, MSc Regional and Urban Planning Studies, MSc Environmental Economics and Climate Change, LSE-Sciences Po Double Degree in Urban Policy, MSc Development Management, MSc City Design and Social Science and MPA Public and Economic Policy/MPA Public Policy and Management/MPA International Development/MPA European Public and Economic Policy/MPA Public and Social Policy. Also available to other suitably qualified graduate students as permitted by the regulations for their degrees.

Why do some regions and territories perform systematically better than others in terms of economic development and wealth? What are the key drivers of local and regional economic performance? How can local and regional economic development policies boost economic activity and improve socio-economic conditions in disadvantaged areas? Globalisation and technological change have challenged the 'traditional' answers to these questions and call for new analytical and policy tools. This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the macro and meso-level determinants of regional and local economic development and of the policies influencing these drivers. After examining the existing disparities in regional economic performance between and within a number of advanced, emerging and developing countries, the course illustrates the scope and justification for government intervention in this area. Various theories and approaches to local and regional economic development, leading to different policy prescriptions, are analysed in order to identify different macro and meso determinants of economic performance (from innovation and human capital to knowledge spillovers and global networks). In particular, the course dwells on the regional policy of the European Union (EU) - one of the most important large-scale regional policy experiences - in order to discuss the pros and cons of existing policy tools and illustrate the benefits of a 'balanced' approach to the analysis, design, management and implementation of regional and local economic development policies in a globalising world.

Twelve one-hour lectures and eight hours of seminars/debates (GY408.1).

H W Armstrong & J Taylor, Regional Economics and Policy, Macmillan, 2000; R Capello, Regional Economics, Routledge, 2007; P C Cheshire & I R Gordon (Eds), Territorial Competition in an Integrating Europe, Avebury, 1995; C Jones Introduction to Economic Growth 2nd edition, Norton 2001; P McCann Urban and Regional Economics, OUP 2001; A Pike, A Rodríguez-Pose & J Tomaney, Local and regional development, Routledge, 2006.

A number of more specialized texts will be recommended at the beginning of the course.

One unseen examination of two hours.