Philip Raines

Cluster behaviour and economic development: new challenges in policy evaluation

This paper investigates the methodological and political consequences of using cluster approaches for assessment of spatial development policy making. Assessment does not only refer to measures and programmes of cluster development but also to the cluster approach as a whole. The analysis is concentrated on options of how to adapt existing approaches of economic development evaluation to the challenges of cluster policy. A critical view is given on necessary additional functions the assessment of cluster policy has to serve compared to conventional approaches.

Regions in competition: Inward investment and regional variation in the use of incentives

In this issue of the Policy Review Section, Philip Raines of the European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, examines the issues surrounding inward investment policy as between Scotland, Wales and the English regions ± a matter of increasing debate following devolution. In the second article, Paul Phillips and Katherine Adams of University College Northampton, Adam Read of the School of Geography, Kingston University, and Anne Green of the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, critically examine the evolving policy context of waste minimization in England with speci® c reference to the regional dimension. Finally, Howard Green and Hichem Trache of the Centre for Urban Development and Economic Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, and Adam Strange of the Division of Geography, Nottingham Trent University, examine the increasing signi® cance of homeworking in the labour market and the constraints presented by the current stock of residential property.

European Integration and Foreign Investment: The Regional Implications

The regional effects of the Single European Market (SEM) have been the subject of increasing, though not necessarily conclusive, research. The problems of assessing the regional impact of integration were stated some years ago by Emerson (1988): “Difficult as it is to estimate the aggregate gains from market integration, this task is relatively manageable compared to that of forecasting its distribution by country or region … it is worth noting that neither economic theory nor relevant economic history can point to any clear-cut pattern of likely distributional advantage or disadvantage”.