This article explores the extent to which persistent poverty areas represent a compelling sub-category of left-behind areas. It asks why places collectively tend to have a much harder time climbing out of poverty than people do individually, and it explores three ways in which places struggling with persistent poverty exhibit disconnection from the broader economy: commuting patterns, social networks and job growth. The concept of disconnection can partially explain why the challenges of persistent poverty or being ‘left-behind’ tend not to resolve themselves naturally. The concept also provides direction for a policy agenda centred around restoring social and economic ties that have deteriorated over time.
{"title":"Persistently poor, left-behind and chronically disconnected","authors":"Kenan Fikri","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad048","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the extent to which persistent poverty areas represent a compelling sub-category of left-behind areas. It asks why places collectively tend to have a much harder time climbing out of poverty than people do individually, and it explores three ways in which places struggling with persistent poverty exhibit disconnection from the broader economy: commuting patterns, social networks and job growth. The concept of disconnection can partially explain why the challenges of persistent poverty or being ‘left-behind’ tend not to resolve themselves naturally. The concept also provides direction for a policy agenda centred around restoring social and economic ties that have deteriorated over time.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139544183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper aims to link the issue of left-behind places with spatial inequalities and demonstrate how, in these places, different territorial identities have contributed to responding to external shocks. By applying principal component and cluster analyses to a set of Italian mountain municipalities, we identified different typologies of these left-behind places as of the early 1950s and examined how they reacted to external shocks in two subsequent periods (1951–1981 and 1981–2011). The results suggest the changing importance of the cognitive, cultural and relational domains in coping with the different phases of Italian economic development.
{"title":"Territorial identity and left-behind places: evidence from the central Italian Apennines from a time perspective","authors":"Gabriele Morettini, Fabiano Compagnucci","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad049","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to link the issue of left-behind places with spatial inequalities and demonstrate how, in these places, different territorial identities have contributed to responding to external shocks. By applying principal component and cluster analyses to a set of Italian mountain municipalities, we identified different typologies of these left-behind places as of the early 1950s and examined how they reacted to external shocks in two subsequent periods (1951–1981 and 1981–2011). The results suggest the changing importance of the cognitive, cultural and relational domains in coping with the different phases of Italian economic development.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2024-01-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139431768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Despite the growing interest in subjective inequality, little is known about the relation between this and more objective measures of inequality, especially in the light of regional disparities. This study focuses on the patterns of actual income inequality and two subjective measures in NUTS 2 EU regions. By accounting for multiple indicators of economic (under)performance, we show that actual inequality is positively related to people’s perceptions in left behind places, but not in more developed regions. Furthermore, both residents of less developed or—‘left behind’—regions and those of more developed regions exhibit a preference for lower levels of income inequality.
{"title":"Three types of income inequality: a comparison of left behind places and more developed regions in the EU","authors":"Alessandra Faggian, Alessandra Michelangeli, Kateryna Tkach","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad046","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad046","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the growing interest in subjective inequality, little is known about the relation between this and more objective measures of inequality, especially in the light of regional disparities. This study focuses on the patterns of actual income inequality and two subjective measures in NUTS 2 EU regions. By accounting for multiple indicators of economic (under)performance, we show that actual inequality is positively related to people’s perceptions in left behind places, but not in more developed regions. Furthermore, both residents of less developed or—‘left behind’—regions and those of more developed regions exhibit a preference for lower levels of income inequality.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139050891","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefania Fiorentino, Franziska Sielker, John Tomaney
Many coastal towns in England face a unique set of overlapping challenges: a longstanding socio-economic stagnation and environmental threats coming from the physical location. This paper examines coastal communities in the context of the left-behind debate. The consequences of de-industrialisation and failures in public policies recall other left-behind geographies. We look at a selection of case studies, apparently dealing with the decline of traditional coastal economic activities, but really affected by a decoupling of their socio-economic profile from their coastal specificity. More work is needed to nurture the existing coastal imaginaries, requiring regional coordination and a place-based approach to regeneration.
{"title":"Coastal towns as ‘left-behind places’: economy, environment and planning","authors":"Stefania Fiorentino, Franziska Sielker, John Tomaney","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad045","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad045","url":null,"abstract":"Many coastal towns in England face a unique set of overlapping challenges: a longstanding socio-economic stagnation and environmental threats coming from the physical location. This paper examines coastal communities in the context of the left-behind debate. The consequences of de-industrialisation and failures in public policies recall other left-behind geographies. We look at a selection of case studies, apparently dealing with the decline of traditional coastal economic activities, but really affected by a decoupling of their socio-economic profile from their coastal specificity. More work is needed to nurture the existing coastal imaginaries, requiring regional coordination and a place-based approach to regeneration.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138679625","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.
{"title":"Are rural firms left behind? Firm location and perceived job attractiveness of high-skilled workers","authors":"Sabrina Jeworrek, Matthias Brachert","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad042","url":null,"abstract":"We conduct a discrete choice experiment to investigate how the location of a firm in a rural or urban region affects the perceived job attractiveness for university students and graduates and, therewith, contributes to the rural–urban divide. We characterize the attractiveness of a location based on several dimensions (social life, public infrastructure and connectivity) and vary job design and contractual characteristics of the job. We find that job offers from companies in rural areas are generally considered less attractive, regardless of the attractiveness of the region. The negative perception is particularly pronounced among persons of urban origin and singles. In contrast, for individuals with partners and kids this preference is less pronounced. High-skilled individuals who originate from rural areas have no specific regional preference at all.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":" 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138491975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Unlike development strategies for prosperous regions and their prioritisation of high-tech sectors, alternative strategies for left behind places are suggested that shift to foundational economies, community-based social innovation and well-being. While we support this emphasis, we see a tendency to neglect the role of change agents engaged with research and teaching in high-tech domains for initiating new regional growth paths. This study shows how initial funding has promoted change agents and the emergence of today’s cybersecurity ecosystem in the old industrial region of the Ruhr. The ecosystem generates fast-growing high-tech start-ups and contributes to positive regional identification. Our paper suggests combining alternative development strategies and the support of change agency from high-tech domains to develop left behind places.
{"title":"High-tech development for “left behind” places: lessons-learnt from the Ruhr cybersecurity ecosystem","authors":"Anna Butzin, Franz Flögel","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad041","url":null,"abstract":"Unlike development strategies for prosperous regions and their prioritisation of high-tech sectors, alternative strategies for left behind places are suggested that shift to foundational economies, community-based social innovation and well-being. While we support this emphasis, we see a tendency to neglect the role of change agents engaged with research and teaching in high-tech domains for initiating new regional growth paths. This study shows how initial funding has promoted change agents and the emergence of today’s cybersecurity ecosystem in the old industrial region of the Ruhr. The ecosystem generates fast-growing high-tech start-ups and contributes to positive regional identification. Our paper suggests combining alternative development strategies and the support of change agency from high-tech domains to develop left behind places.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"122 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-11-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138289563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Left-behind places face linked economic and political problems that must be resolved jointly. This paper examines the potential contribution of basic income programs to that goal. Consisting of regular, no-strings-attached payments to citizens, basic income programs ensure resources and stability for poor and economically precarious households who comprise a significant share of left-behind places’ populations. Advocacy for basic income emphasizes social and ethical commitment to individuals who have paid the price for economic decline. Thus, even though the goal of national and universal basic income remains distant in the UK, activism for basic income has succeeded in creating alternative paths for populist sentiments originating in the decline of left-behind places. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with advocates in the UK and elsewhere, I demonstrate that activism for basic income diverts potential support for ethno-nationalism and European withdrawal to alternate, place-contingent and variegated regional political paths.
{"title":"Building distributive populism: basic income and political alternatives to ethno-nationalism","authors":"Marc Doussard","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad040","url":null,"abstract":"Left-behind places face linked economic and political problems that must be resolved jointly. This paper examines the potential contribution of basic income programs to that goal. Consisting of regular, no-strings-attached payments to citizens, basic income programs ensure resources and stability for poor and economically precarious households who comprise a significant share of left-behind places’ populations. Advocacy for basic income emphasizes social and ethical commitment to individuals who have paid the price for economic decline. Thus, even though the goal of national and universal basic income remains distant in the UK, activism for basic income has succeeded in creating alternative paths for populist sentiments originating in the decline of left-behind places. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with advocates in the UK and elsewhere, I demonstrate that activism for basic income diverts potential support for ethno-nationalism and European withdrawal to alternate, place-contingent and variegated regional political paths.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"30 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-11-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138293455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper argues that money and finance are not sufficiently integrated into the research agenda of evolutionary economic geography (EEG). I identify two dimensions of Joseph Schumpeter’s vision of the inherent instability of capitalism as promising for the EEG research agenda: First, the ‘law’ (Gesetz) of a disequilibrating role of credit creation and innovations in financial relations reveals the deeply ‘monetary character’ of his theory of development. Second, Schumpeter’s vision of an evolutionary ‘form’ (Gestalt) of capitalism describes a social process that rests on macro-drivers of institutional change. Money and finance thus simultaneously act as both static indicators and dynamic drivers of economic development in space.
{"title":"Schumpeter’s Gesetz and Gestalt in space: exploring evolutionary economic geographies of money and finance","authors":"David Bieri","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad025","url":null,"abstract":"This paper argues that money and finance are not sufficiently integrated into the research agenda of evolutionary economic geography (EEG). I identify two dimensions of Joseph Schumpeter’s vision of the inherent instability of capitalism as promising for the EEG research agenda: First, the ‘law’ (Gesetz) of a disequilibrating role of credit creation and innovations in financial relations reveals the deeply ‘monetary character’ of his theory of development. Second, Schumpeter’s vision of an evolutionary ‘form’ (Gestalt) of capitalism describes a social process that rests on macro-drivers of institutional change. Money and finance thus simultaneously act as both static indicators and dynamic drivers of economic development in space.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"64 37","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-11-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71524880","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fostering cooperation among local stakeholders is a core aim of place-based policies, and it can generate economic benefits and help restore a sense of agency in left-behind communities. However, relatively little is known about how to induce local cooperation in low-trust, institutionally weak areas. This article develops an integrated theoretical framework to help diagnose the precise obstacles to cooperation faced in different types of adverse settings. Such a diagnosis can help design tailored local- and macro-level policies to address the obstacles to local cooperation. The utility of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a medium-n comparative case study design.
{"title":"Obstacles to local cooperation in fragmented, left-behind economies: an integrated framework","authors":"Kira Gartzou-Katsouyanni","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad037","url":null,"abstract":"Fostering cooperation among local stakeholders is a core aim of place-based policies, and it can generate economic benefits and help restore a sense of agency in left-behind communities. However, relatively little is known about how to induce local cooperation in low-trust, institutionally weak areas. This article develops an integrated theoretical framework to help diagnose the precise obstacles to cooperation faced in different types of adverse settings. Such a diagnosis can help design tailored local- and macro-level policies to address the obstacles to local cooperation. The utility of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a medium-n comparative case study design.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"60 19","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2023-11-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"71474892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper investigates the occurrence and nature of barriers to social inclusion in distinct geographical settings. Utilising a unique administrative dataset from Ireland’s dominant social inclusion programme, this study examines how location impacts the occurrence of these barriersat a small-area level. Ireland’s high growth rates have raised concerns about uneven effects, making it an interesting case study for ‘left behind’ places. The findings reveal that barriers associated with social inclusion, related to economic participation, are more prevalent in ‘independent urban towns’ compared to both more urban and more rural areas, over and above area-level deprivation. This implies that existing policies, which traditionally employs a simplistic urban/rural dichotomy, lacks effective targeting, and would benefit from adopting a more precise spatial perspective.
{"title":"Barriers to social inclusion and levels of urbanisation: Does it matter where you live?","authors":"Adele Whelan, Anne Devlin, Seamus McGuinness","doi":"10.1093/cjres/rsad036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad036","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the occurrence and nature of barriers to social inclusion in distinct geographical settings. Utilising a unique administrative dataset from Ireland’s dominant social inclusion programme, this study examines how location impacts the occurrence of these barriersat a small-area level. Ireland’s high growth rates have raised concerns about uneven effects, making it an interesting case study for ‘left behind’ places. The findings reveal that barriers associated with social inclusion, related to economic participation, are more prevalent in ‘independent urban towns’ compared to both more urban and more rural areas, over and above area-level deprivation. This implies that existing policies, which traditionally employs a simplistic urban/rural dichotomy, lacks effective targeting, and would benefit from adopting a more precise spatial perspective.","PeriodicalId":47897,"journal":{"name":"Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society","volume":"57 3","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136104904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}