Regional development agencies

"Across Europe, regional development agencies (RDAs) have become a central feature of regional policy, both as innovative policy-makers and as the implementers of programmes and initiatives originating from the national or European level. By drawing on a combination of conceptual reflection, surveys, comparative research, and systematic use of critical case studies, this book provides a new point of reference by identifying key features of the current, and, indeed next, generation of regionally-based economic development organisations"-- "Across Europe, regional development agencies (RDAs) have become a central feature of regional policy, both as innovative policy-makers and as the implementers of programmes and initiatives originating from the national or European level. Since the first generation of RDAs were established in the 1970s and 1980s, major changes have swept through the policy arena: - globalisation has increased competitive pressure and moved the position of regions in the international division of labour to the forefront of regional strategy-making - the digital revolution and the EU Lisbon agenda have highlighted the importance of production and access to knowledge