Regional development and agency: Unfinished business

Agency and regional development has attracted growing attention. The origins of much thought in this area lie in evolutionary economic geography, sometimes with a nod in the direction of geographical political economy. In recent literature, there has been a stress on agency in general and local entrepreneurship in particular. Stress is laid on good governance, involving an appropriate mix of stakeholders, and more particularly the involvement of local leaders/entrepreneurs and their communities. However, in this article, I want to argue that, firstly, a focus on local entrepreneurship is too limiting; and secondly, following on from the first point, the concept of agency at a local level is at best undercooked.

Automated summary

Agency and regional development have been receiving more and more attention, rooted in evolutionary economic geography and geographical political economy, emphasizing the role of agency and local entrepreneurship. However, there is a general belief in the current literature that the focus on local entrepreneurship is too narrow, and the concept of agency at the local level is still not well-developed.