Resilient peripheral regions? The long-term effects of ten Norwegian restructuring programmes

Abstract

The article investigates the long-term effects of 10 restructuring programmes (RPs) in Norway. RP is a policy instrument rooted in endogenous theory aimed at peripheral regions with particularly negative development trajectories. The purposes of RPs are to contribute to the development of new jobs, improve business development capacity, and diversify local economic structures. The authors' analysis is informed by the concept of regional resilience, which seeks to capture the differential and uneven ability of places and regions to react, respond, and cope with change. Through methodological triangulation the analysis covers changes in employment, entrepreneurial activity, and ‘soft factors’ such as endogenous development capacity. The analysis reveals that regions with RPs demonstrate long-term growth and increased industrial and relational diversity. The RP policy instrument thus appears to have contributed to enhanced resilience in different ways in the 10 case regions.

Keywords:

• periphery
• regional development
• resilience
• restructuring programmes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank two anonymous referees and the guest editors Asbjørn Karlsen and Britt Dale for helpful and constructive comments on the article. We are also grateful for assistance from the journal editor Michael Jones, copy editor and editorial assistant Catriona Turner, and Radmil Popovic for assistance with Fig. 1.

Notes

1 In 2011 the currency exchange rate was approximately USD 1 = NOK 5.6.

2 Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), which holds register-based official statistics for Norway. Data were collected from ‘Population by age, sex, marital status and citizenship’ https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selectvarval/Define.asp?subjectcode=&ProductId=&MainTable=NY3026&nvl=&PLanguage=1&nyTmpVar=true&CMSSubjectArea=befolkning&KortNavnWeb=folkemengde&StatVariant=&checked=true (accessed 1 February 2010) and from ‘Employment, register based’ https://www.ssb.no/statistikkbanken/selecttable/hovedtabellHjem.asp?KortNavnWeb=regsys&CMSSubjectArea=arbeid-og-lonn&PLanguage=1&checked=true (accessed February 2010).