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Disentangling regional policy paradigms

Regional development has often been described in economic terms, using economic indicators such as growth in GDP or demographic indicators such as net migration or employment. Some researchers argued that regional development should be understood broader, by including for example social indicators and living environment indicators . Recently, researchers have shown that policies directed towards regional development have broadened as well , but are also still evaluated within specific narratives or frameworks that often constitute the goals of the policy, for example the Keynesian framework favours increasing demand and favours the evaluation of policies aimed at exactly this. This self-constituting practice of an amalgam of related policies has also been referred to by Hall as a policy paradigm. Because policies are often evaluated within these policy paradigms it becomes difficult to decontextualise them, disentangle them and compare policies with each other.In this paper we propose to use a different, more quantitative and comparative method. By applying the above mentioned work from Andy Pike on numerous data sources from EUROSTAT and OECD, researchers from the PREMIUM_EU project developed a new framework that is measuring Regional Development (dubbed “R”) using economic, social and living environment indicators.MethodBy regarding this “R” (and individual indicators) as an outcome of public policies on the local, regional, national and international level and by analysing regional development policies on different levels from 2010 and onwards we believe it is possible to understand the impact of these policies in a more evidenced based sense, regardless of the above mentioned different types of narratives or frameworks.We started our research with an analysis from the OECD on the different types of regional development policies and the relations between different levels of government within countries. Based on this and literature research, we developed a framework with relevant topics for regional development policies and different levels of government.Based on the work of Moritz Schütz presented during the ERSA 2024 conference, we developed and employed a webcrawler to automatically download and summarise policies from municipalities, regional and national authorities and analyse the results of this exercise.Findings/resultsThe webcrawling and -mining exercise in combination with the new set of indicators will offer a much broader and more comprehensive view of the use and necessity of regional development policies. The findings will be discussed in dedicated policy labs with policymakers and researchers from the respective regions.Discussion/conclusionsBoth the new set of indicators and the analysis of the policies are not only innovative, but will also be viewed as speculative. Although we believe that a direct causal relationship between policies and the regional development will be hard to uncover, we do believe that this research will move the field of policy analysis forward, because it is more focused on evidence-based indicators and is based on larger sets of policies.

University spin-offs and economic impact on semi peripheral regions in the Netherlands

In this study, several aspects of Saxion spin-offs have been analysed, the numbers, workplaces, location, migration, gender issues, different economic sectors and survival rates. The main question underlying all these analyses was what the impact of Saxion as university of applied sciences is on the regional economy of the two regions in which it is located.From the literature, the concept of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, as explanatory factor for the observations that in certain regions more graduates or staff members start their own business and that such an ecosystem helps small fledgling businesses to survive and grow is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, the theoretical foundations are still not fully crystallized, therefore measuring the actual influence of such entrepreneurial ecosystems is still a difficult exercise. In this study, Saxion spin-offs from two regions, Twente and the Cleantech Region, have been analysed, and several differences in terms of number of spin-offs, employment, migration patterns and survival rates have been identified. Since the spin-offs are from the same university of applied sciences, with the same policy regarding support of entrepreneurship and both regions are located outside of the economic core regions of the country, it appears as if the strength of the regional context, the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and the business opportunities it provides is a factor in explaining why there are more spin-offs in Twente (even when controlling for the larger size of the Saxion campus in this region). If one assumes that the strength of the entrepreneurial ecosystem is stronger in Twente (among others because of existing business networks, the availability of a world class research university, the University of Twente and a business support organization like Novel-T), it would explain why spin-offs located in this region on average offer more workplaces, and have a higher survival rate than in the Cleantech Region.Gender differences related to entrepreneurship are present in Saxion spin-offs, female graduates and staff members are much less likely to start a spin-off company than their male counterparts. When females do start, their spin-offs are on average much smaller in terms of workplaces offered. Their businesses have on average an equal survival rate than those started by a male entrepreneur. Findings from the literature on the subject and the numbers found in this study suggest that there is a need for specific programs in Saxion targeting females, to at least think about starting their own business. Also, specific mentoring programs for spin-offs with female entrepreneurs may help to let these businesses grow and increase their regional economic impact.Saxion spin-offs can be found in many different sectors, something understandable given the broad spectrum of study programs in Saxion. Even though most spin-offs remain micro sized businesses, certain economic sectors seem to offer better scalable business models, especially in sectors such as industry, information and communication technology businesses and business support services. The number as well as employment in the more innovative and internationally competitive topsectors is much higher in the region Twente than in the Cleantech Region, possibly another consequence of the – apparently – stronger regional entrepreneurial ecosystem in Twente.An often-stated argument for regional economic development is that investing in spin-off companies will help to create workplaces in the region, since companies are not very likely to move. In this study, the data on migration of spin-offs have been compared with the migration of graduates, based on the HBO-monitor survey. It is not possible to one-on-one compare the two datasets, as the migration of spin-offs is calculated for the first five years of their existence and the HBO-monitor is held around one and a half year after graduation. Still, w

Economic impact analysis versus social cost-benefit analysis

For the Dam tot damloop, a running event with 36,757 participants and 115,000 visitors, both an economic impact analysis (IEA) and a social cost benefit analysis (SCBA) are made to study the (broader) economic effects. Three overlapping geographical regions are studied and two new estimates of non-market goods are used. For the hosting cities the net social gain from the SCBA is at least three times the EIA’s economic impact. The larger the geographical area studied, the larger the differences between EIA and SCBA, because the EIA outcome falls and the SCBA outcome increases. A lower multiplier than 1 lowers the EIA much more than it lowers the SCBA. This study shows that an EIA is not suited for evaluating the welfare effects of public support for a sport event. The difference in outcome between EIA and SCBA is substantial. Valuing non-market effects is done infrequently but is crucial for understanding the welfare effects of policies supporting sport events. Organizing an event for social and city marketing benefits can be a better reason than organizing for the direct economic gains.

European cycle tourism : tool for sustainable regional rural development

We present an economic impacts model based on direct expenditures for European cycle routes, originally designed in 2009 as part of a study commissioned by the European Parliament. At its request, the study was updated in 2012, including a refined version of our model which takes some limitations of the former model into account. Our main findings are that cycle tourists’ daily spending is comparable to that of other tourists, and that cycle tourism can contribute significantly in particular to rural economies that have not previously enjoyed mainstream tourism development. (European) cycle tourism thus proves to be useful as an (additional) tool for regional rural development. We arrived at a total estimated direct expenditures in Europe of almost €44 billion (€35 billion from day trips and €8.94 billion from overnight trips). We applied the model to the routes of EuroVelo, the European cycle route network which is currently being developed, showing their considerable economic potential of over €7 billion in direct expenditures. Furthermore, cycle tourism has a far lower negative impact on the environment (in terms of carbon dioxide emissions) than other forms of tourism. Cycle tourism is therefore a good example of a low carbon tourism product which could be developed as a major slow travel opportunity across (rural) Europe.

Modelling health and economic impact of nutrition interventions

Diet related non-communicable diseases (NCDs), as well as micronutrient deficiencies, are of widespread and growing importance to public health. Authorities are developing programs to improve nutrient intakes via foods. To estimate the potential health andeconomic impact of these programs there is a wide variety of models. The aim of this review is to evaluate existing models to estimate the health and/or economic impact of nutrition interventions with a focus on reducing salt and sugar intake andincreasing vitamin D, iron, and folate/folic acid intake. The protocol of this systematic review has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO: CRD42016050873). The final search was conducted onPubMed and Scopus electronic databases and search strings were developed for salt/sodium, sugar, vitamin D, iron, and folic acid intake. Predefined criteria related to scientific quality, applicability, and funding/interest were used to evaluate the publications. In total 122 publications were included for a critical appraisal: 45 for salt/sodium, 61 for sugar, 4 for vitamin D, 9 for folic acid, and 3 for iron. The complexity of modelling the health and economic impact of nutrition interventions is dependent on the purpose and data availability. Although most of the models have the potential to provide projections of future impact, the methodological challenges are considerable. There is a substantial need for more guidance and standardization for future modelling, to compare results ofdifferent studies and draw conclusions about the health and economic impact of nutrition interventions.

Regional economic impacts of tourism