Theorizing regional economic performance and the changing territorial division of labour

Theorizing regional economic performance and the changing territorial division of labour, Reg. Studies 37 , 839-854. After identifying the general mechanisms underling the centripetal and centrifugal forces whose interplay shapes the relative performance of regional economies, a case is made for disaggregating macroeconomic indicators and examining the sectoral and occupational changes they conceal. Once regional performance is seen as reflecting underling changes in the profiles of regional economies, it is clear that research should examine the forces that determine the changing territorial division of labour. To explain the latter a conceptual framework is presented. This framework combines value chain approaches to the strategies of individual enterprises and analyses of the impact on the performance of enterprises of their wider social environment. Explicit links are established between this framework and some of the insights of the new economic geography.