Several recent studies have examined the tendency of regions within a nation to exhibit long-term convergence in per capita income levels. Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1991, 1992, 1995) have found a tendency towards convergence among the U.S. states, among Japanese prefectures, and among regions...

This report brings into light an emerging framework, with a new territorial unit for local initiative in the Czech Republic: the micro-region. It investigates the issues at stake in the development of these voluntary entities, that can be characterised as main partners for regions, although they...

This detailed policy review examines recent developments in regional policy in France and in particular, challenges regarding competiveness policies and multilevel governance. It includes interesting statistics related to regions and makes a series of recommendations for French authorities.

National policy makers have shown a growing interest in the regional dimension of innovation processes, and regional policy makers are seeking to promote their own competitiveness by supporting innovation. To advance the OECD quantitative research on regions and innovation, a categorisation of...

Low growth, population ageing and depopulation, and new trade relationships with the East Asia region have made it increasingly necessary for Japan to reform its economic and institutional systems. A key element of this reform concerns Japan's policies for regional development. This report...

China’s remarkable growth in recent years has been often rather arbitrarily ascribed to a number of politico-economic factors. In this volume, the specific effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is measured quantitatively and estimated on a regional basis. The authors find that...

Abstract We consider that the factors defining the local environment have impact on the economic growth and determine the existence of the regional disparities. To verify this hypothesis, we analyse, using the PCA method and the 3 Sigma rule, a set of variables for the 42 Romanian counties. The...

In the paper we assess the convergence hypothesis for the Italian economy over the period 1951-2000, using a new methodological approach. The approach is based on a two-step recursive principal components estimator, allowing to monitor the progress of the convergence process over time and to...