Institutions and mediating inward investment in England and the USA

Cox K. and Townsend A. (2005) Institutions and mediating inward investment in England and the USA, Regional Studies 39 , 541–553. In England, a new institutional structure for local and regional development has recently emerged involving some decentralization of responsibility. A major focus has been stimulating and mediating inward investment. The new scale division of labour resembles somewhat that which has long been apparent in the USA. Similar tensions are observable, but there remain considerable differences and an examination of them facilitates understanding of the limits and possibilities inherent in the case of England. In the US case, institutions tend to be much more metropolitan in form, the public—private balance is quite different, and institutions tend to emerge locally rather than be structured from the centre. These differences owe a significant part not only to differences in state form, but also to the energizing force of strong business interest in the future of local economies.