‘One central purpose’? Tracking the Evolution of Strategic Approaches to Economic Development in Scotland

The Scottish Government’s latest economic strategy aims for a ‘transformation’ of the Scottish economy, with higher levels of aggregate economic performance combined with greater equality, reduced poverty and environmental sustainability. In doing so it echoes similar ambitions expressed in Scottish economic development strategies since devolution in 1999. This article provides a contextual analysis of the strategic approaches to economic development pursued by successive administrations and the institutional arrangements to deliver them. In particular, it provides an account of how ‘economic development’ and its aims have been understood, the shifting balance between a prioritization of growth and distributional concerns, and the attention given to questions of geographically uneven development within Scotland. While there is a degree of continuity across these strategies, the trend has been towards a broadening set of aims around the economy, influenced by growing international interest in looking beyond GDP, concern about regional inequality and a need to reduce carbon emissions. Overall, however, these shifts have not yet marked a radical departure from the traditional underlying goal of seeking increased economic growth at the national level.