REGIONAL ECONOMICS

Knowledge and understanding: knowledge and understanding of the main theories related to regional and local economic analysis. Being able to understand the concept and application of tools (such as multipliers) to evaluate regional and local economic performance. To have a clear understanding of regional and local economic problems.

Applying knowledge and understanding: to be  familiar with the sources of regional and local economic data including database resources and being skilled in using simple analytical tools to interpret large data sets in order to show disparities between different areas.

Making  judgments: to be able to critically evaluate and discuss the main theories used in the study of the regional and local economy and the reasons and results of the application of policies in order to alleviate regional economic problems.

Communication skills: to be able to  point out the strengths and weaknesses of a local economy in a clear and professional way through a detailed written report.

Learning skills: to be able to identify and explain the functioning and discuss the motivations for the use of particular prescriptions and political tools to try to alleviate local and regional economic problems. Be familiar with the results of applying policy requirements and how analysis of these has helped shape future policy.

The teaching style of this unit encourages student participation. Scheduled events include: lectures, seminars and workshop activities. These are designed so that the student can practice some of the techniques that have been shown during lectures in order to promote experiential learning and to develop the knowledge and understanding skills.

(1) Introduction to course, the importance of the local economy and the case for regional policy; (2) How we measure the local economy – profiles, multipliers and models; (3) Why economies grow - Economic growth models both Classical and Keynesian; (4) The local and regional labour market – quality of human capital, migration and unemployment; (5) Regional policy changes from 1979 and the emergence of EU regional policy; (6) Trade-off and synergies in the EU regional policy; (7) EU policies to build smart cities; (8) Regional resilience; (9) Smart cities and resilience.

Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the programme planned and outlined in the syllabus.

The textbook for the unit is 

a) Armstrong H & Taylor J (2000) Regional Economics and Policy(3rd edition) Oxford: Blackwell.

Other suggested readings are:

b) Capello, R. (2015). Economia regionale. Localizzazione, crescita regionale e sviluppo locale. Il mulino.

c) McCann, P. (2013). Modern urban and regional economics. Oxford University Press.

d) Pike, A., Rodriguez-Pose, A., Tomaney, J. (2010). Handbook of Local and Regional Development. Routledge.