The Growth and Decline of the West Midlands Region: An Integrated Evolutionary Perspective

Abstract

The analysis of economic performance and innovation has undergone a shift into both geography and history. The spatial–temporal analysis of the region has become an important factor in policy development. The paper argues how various integrated analysis frameworks, collectively termed the integrated evolutionary perspective, manage the increasing complexity of analytical approaches to regional analysis. This is not a unified approach or methodology but a unified drive to integrate divergent analytical approaches. Applied to the West Midlands region, the paper argues that the historical trajectory of regions is a product of both path dependencies and hysteresis effects, with dynamical equilibrium evident in a loose Kondratievian framework. The region developed due to the combination of conducive endogenous factors and absolute advantage was maintained through isomorphic transitions. Although the region was challenged by a less conducive external environment, regional decline was precipitated by internal inefficiencies which continue to affect the region.