This paper positions the concept of regional competitiveness within theories concerning regional economic growth and stages of economic development. It examines the sources of regional competitiveness encompassing an analysis based on the particular stage of economic development that the nations...

This paper discusses two economic functions of the University of Wales Cardiff (Cardiff University) in relation to local and regional economic development. The first concerns its direct and indirect impact as an economic force in its own rights in the locality and the wider city-region of South...

This paper provides evidence of the movement towards a sector-based approach to regional development by the Welsh Development Agency, its effects on economic competitiveness and its role as a focal point for stimulating the development of specialized industrial clusters. The paper concentrates...

The objective of this paper is to review, from a TEC perspective, the effect of changing Conservative Government policies in the 1990s, such as the introduction of Business Links, on local economic development strategies. The paper focuses on the effects of the Government's attempt to vest in...

This paper is a study of the skills economy of the rural region of Mid Wales, and the subsequent policy responses that could be activated to stimulate job creation and upgrading through skills development and training. A skills economy approach incorporates the means by which the expectations of...

The author examines the role of workforce development - in the form of skills upgrading and training - in integrating and embedding foreign direct investment (FDI) in the economy of Wales. He finds that by far the most important deciding factor in choosing Wales as an investment location is the...