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.

When Collaboration Is Risky Business: The Influence of Collaboration Risks on Formal and Informal Collaboration

“…Extant research examines both formal and informal mechanisms for overcoming the barriers to collaboration (Feiock, 2013; Feiock, Lee, Park, & Lee, 2010; Hawkins, Hu, & Feiock, 2016; Terman & Feiock, 2015). Informal arrangements such as information sharing networks and working groups allow participants to self-organize as networks and meet in regional organization venues to exchange resources and coordinate decisions (Chen, Feiock, & Hsieh, 2016). Although federal and state programs can influence their development (Kwak, Feiock, Hawkins, & Lee, 2016; Schneider Scholz, Lubell, Mindruta, & Edwardsen, 2003), these informal exchanges preserve local autonomy.…”

Impacts of Federal Stimulus Funding on Economic Development Policy Networks Among Local Governments

“…Local policy actors develop both formal and informal relationships to mitigate these problems (Feiock, ; Feiock & Scholz, ; Lubell, Schneider, Scholz, & Mete, ). For instance, local jurisdictions can participate in regional planning forums or become members of regional economic development partnerships to coordinate their economic development decisions (Chen et al, ). Similarly, local governments create networks of interlocal agreements to build mutual trust and minimize the risk of potential defection (Andrew, ; Shrestha, ; Shrestha & Feiock, ).…”

“…Much of the existing research on regional collaboration mechanisms examines service delivery and why cities collaborate through shared service delivery agreements (Carr & Hawkins, ; Carr, LeRoux, & Shrestha, ; Provan & Milward, ). Collaboration for economic development purposes has also been the focus of recent studies (Chen, Feiock, & Hseih, ; Hawkins, , o; Lee, Feiock, & Lee, ). Even though cities are highly competitive for private investment, they often collaborate to enhance their regional economic position (Hawkins, ), and generate resources to more adequately address fiscal challenges (Kwon, Jiang, & Feoick, ).…”

Self‐Organizing Governance of Local Economic Development: Informal Policy Networks And Regional Institutions

“…Regional institutions that promote development and provide resources needed by local governments to improve their economies are also present in the vast majority of large metropolitan areas (Chen, Feiock, & Hsieh, ; Olberding, ). Less attention, however, has been paid to the patterns of relations between cities and these organizations whose main objective is to build local and metropolitan‐wide economic competitiveness.…”