1. Workshop 4 – Global competitiveness of regions based on strong local economies ECR2 Adrian Healy ESPON Internal Seminar 2013 “Territorial Evidence for Cohesion Policy 2014-2020 and Territorial Agenda 2020”

2. “... help Member States to restore and increase growth and ensure a job rich recovery while ensuring sustainable development, in line with Europe 2020 objectives.” Levels of economic output (GDP)? Levels of employment (’job-rich’ growth)? Total number of jobs Total number of individuals employed Levels of (disposable) income? But is it just rates of growth or an absolute value? What constitutes a strong local economy? 2

3. One that is not adversely affected by an economic crisis ie does not go into decline (Resistant) One that is adversely affected by an economic crisis but recovers to its former peak (Recovery) One that is adversely affected by an economic crisis but recovers to its past growth path (Renewal) (Martin, 2012) A strong economy is a resilient economy 3

4. Total numbers employed Resilience to the economic crisis 4

5. Resilience patterns 5 Total jobs (to 2010) Total employment (to 2011)

6. Downturn to Recovery 6

7. National patterns but regional diversity 7

8. Components of Resilience 8 BusinessCommunityPeoplePlace Economic structure Sectoral diversity Export orientation Profitability and debt Qualifications and skills Labour market flexibility Labour market adaptability Savings rate Migration patterns Social networks Behavioural norms Non-market economy Disposable income Urban structure Accessibility Natural environment Territorial characteristics

9. Quite limited when you start to look across the EU space (significance of context) Concentrations of construction employment problematic Some evidence that higher levels of manufacturing employment beneficial Innovation strengths (including SET employment) highly correlated to resilience Lower levels of poverty associated with resilient economies Lower levels of labour market participation associated with resilient economies What do the statistics tell us? 9

10. Governance responses international national regional local Other agent responses firms households communities Responses to crisis 10 Structures vs Agency

11. The role of Governance In reacting to crisis In responding to crisis In preparing for crisis The role of choices and behaviour in influencing resilience Of firms Of households Of public bodies The significance of expectations and attitudes The role of interconnectivity and spillovers The temporal dimension Conclusions 11 Polls In humanitarian responses such as the Philippines typhoon, aid agencies should engage in promoting longer term change, as long as it does not detract from the disaster response (63%, 230 Votes) only think about the immediate task of saving lives and relieving suffering (19%, 70 Votes) promote change, even if it distracts some attention/resources from the immediate response (18%, 42 Votes) Total Voters: 365 Source: Oxfamblogs (2 Dec 2013) http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=16 785