Regional Partnerships and Metropolitan Economic Development

ABSTRACT:

Regional partnerships have grown popular as mechanisms to address public goods that transcend local boundaries, but we know little about their effectiveness. For example, what impact do regional economic development partnerships (REDPs), cooperative organizations of local governments, nonprofits and business organizations have on the economies of metropolitan areas? This article employs survival analysis and multilevel growth curve models to examine how the emergence of regional partnership arrangements influences patterns of economic development in U.S. metropolitan areas. The results suggest that, whereas these organizations do not make a great difference in some metro areas, in densely populated and politically fragmented metropolitan areas personal incomes, business firms, and employment grew significantly with the emergence of REDPs. Furthermore, state level factors, such as intergovernmental grant funding, are found to have positive influences. In conclusion, we discuss regional partnerships as solutions to institutional collective action problems in economic development and other policy arenas.

Notes

Intraclass relationship of personal incomes per capita in time level = [2146.64²/(2146.64² + 829.14² + 638.59²)] ×100% = 73.65%.

Intraclass relationship of personal incomes per capita in state level in time level = [638.59²/(2146.64² + 829.14² + 638.59²)] ×100% = 7.15%.

Intraclass relationship of numbers of business firms in time level = [0.49²/(0.49² + 1.10² + 0.35²)] ×100% = 7.73%.

Intraclass relationship of business firms in state level in time level = [0.35²/(0.49² + 1.10² + 0.35²)] ×100% = 7.57%.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ssu-Hsien Chen

Ssu-Hsien Chen (Olivia) has a B.A. in Philosophy, minor in Business Management from Fu Jen Catholic University, M.P.A. in Public Affairs from Ming Chuan University, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy from Florida State University. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Affairs at the University of Taipei, Taiwan. Her research interests include policy analysis, local/metropolitan governance, energy policies, interlocal networks and interactions, and the use of performance measurement in public sectors.

Richard C. Feiock

Richard C. Feiock is the Jerry Collins Eminent Scholar of Public Administration and directs the Local Governance Laboratory at Florida State University. His research focuses on local institutions, networks, and governance. His recent books include Institutional Constraints and Local Government (2001), City-County Consolidation and Its Alternatives (2004), Metropolitan Governance: Conflict, Competition, and Cooperation (2004), and Self-Organizing Federalism (2010). His current work is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Jun Yi Hsieh

Jun Yi Hsieh is an Associate Professor of Public Affairs at University of Taipei, Taiwan. His research interests include performance management, management innovation, local governance, public human resource management, and policy analysis.