Regional Responses to Recession: The Role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce

Abstract

BAILEY D. and BERKELEY N. Regional responses to recession: the role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, Regional Studies. Regional taskforces were set up across the English regions in late 2008 in response to the most severe recession since the Second World War. This paper examines the role of one such body, the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, as an example of regional response to recession, and offers potential lessons for the future in dealing with such situations. In so doing it reflects on the contested concept of regional 'resilience' and its relevance for policy actions at the regional level. Understanding how the region responded in this way could help in maintaining a 'permanent capacity' to deal with shocks, especially in the context of the abolition of regional development agencies (RDAs) in England from 2012 and their replacement with local enterprise partnerships (LEPs). English regions Regional development agencies Recession responses Regional resilience Local enterprise partnerships Localism BAILEY D. and BERKELEY N. 经济衰退的区域回应：英格兰中西部区域专门小组的角色，区域研究。2008年底，英格 兰各区域纷纷成立了区域专门小组，以因应第二次世界大战以来最为严峻的经济衰退。本文检视其中一个专门小组 的角色，即英格兰中西部区域专门小组，做为区域回应经济衰退的案例，并提供未来因应此般情势的可能经验教 训。藉此，本文考量区域"恢復力"的竞争性概念，及其之于区域层级政策行动的关联性。理解区域为何以此方式 做出回应，有助于维持应对冲击的"永久能力"，特别是在英格兰自2012年废止区域发展署(RDAs)，并由地方企业 伙伴(LEPs)取代之后的脉络中。 英格兰的区域 区域发展署 回应经济衰退 区域恢復力 地方企业伙伴 在地主义 BAILEY D. et BERKELEY N. Les réponses régionales à la récession économique: le rôle du West Midlands Regional Taskforce, Regional Studies. Des groupes de travail régionaux ont été créés à travers les régions d'Angleterre à la fin de l'année 2008 en réponse à la recession la plus profonde depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Cet article examine le rôle d'un tel groupe, à savoir le West Midlands Regional Taskforce, comme étude de cas des réponses régionales à la récession, et fournit des leçons éventuelles à en tirer pour aborder de telles situations à l'avenir. Ce faisant, il s'interroge sur la notion de 'capacité d'adaptation' régionale et son importance pour ce qui est des actions politiques à l'échelle régionale. Comprendre comment la région a répondu de cette façon pourrait aider à assurer une 'capacité permanente' pour affronter les chocs, surtout dans le cadre de la suppression des agences de développement régional (regional development agencies; RDAs) en Angleterre à partir de 2012 et de leur remplacement par les partenariats locaux d'entreprise (local enterprise partnerships; LEPs). Régions d'Angleterre Agences de développement régional Réponses à la récession Capacité d'adaptation régionale Partenariats locaux d'entreprise Localisme BAILEY D. und BERKELEY N. Regionale Reaktionen auf die Rezession: die Rolle der West Midlands Regional Taskforce, Regional Studies. Als Reaktion auf die schwerste Rezession seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wurden Ende 2008 in sämtlichen englischen Regionen regionale Arbeitsgruppen eingerichtet. In diesem Beitrag wird als Beispiel für die regionalen Reaktionen

Measuring regional business resilience

“…This could have implications for those working in local, regional and national government as it could provide the potential to serve as an early warning indicator of economic stresses for a region. As stated by Bailey and Berkeley (2014), appropriate interventions could be seen as critical in enabling recovery. Examples include the ProAct scheme in Wales (Sensier & Artis, 2016) and fiscal stimulus packages (Davies, 2011).…”

Measuring Community Economic Resilience in Australia: Estimates of Recent Levels and Trends

“…Apart from the five capitals, a community's economy with a more diversified economic structure is likely to be more flexible in its resource allocation (Martin 2012), less vulnerable to shocks (Myers-Smith et al 2012;Bailey and Berkeley 2014) and better equipped to buffer against disturbances (Dissart 2003). All of these attributes would be expected to help the community mitigate the effects of severe economic decline and quickly adapt to changing economic conditions (Freudenburg 1992;Myers-Smith et al 2012;Bailey and Berkeley 2014).…”

“…All of these attributes would be expected to help the community mitigate the effects of severe economic decline and quickly adapt to changing economic conditions (Freudenburg 1992;Myers-Smith et al 2012;Bailey and Berkeley 2014). Finally, the ability not only to produce but also to access key services provided by government and private for-or not for profit organisations is also likely to be a key attribute for economic resilience.…”

Making sense of leadership in urban and regional development

“…More also could be done to understand how place leadership may reach beyond instrumentalist approaches and serve higher societal and ecological purposes. There is a need to understand better, for example, the relationship between place leadership and regional resilience (Bristow & Healey, 2014), entrepreneurship (Fritsch & Storey, 2014), migration (Fratesi & Percoco, 2014), and the role of leaders in responding to periods of recession and crisis (Bailey & Berkeley, 2014;Bailey & De Propris, 2014). Critically, there is a need to focus on place leadership and other dimensions of agency in regions, including questions of scale (Cairney, 2014;Medina & Molins, 2014) and the critical intersection between industry and territory (Smith, 2013).…”