Globalization’s Impact on State and Local Policy: The Rise of Regional Cluster-Based Economic Development Strategies
Author(s)
Felbinger, Claire L.; Robey, James E.
Abstract
The business of business, the business of politics, and, therefore, the business of economic development is global. This fact is not going to change. Mander (1996) has argued that globalization involves the most fundamental redesign of political and economic arrangements since the Industrial Revolution. This restructuring will almost inevitably continue. It seems reasonable to conclude that in order to be successful in a global economy, state and local policy must also be redesigned to operate in the emerging new environment. The purpose of this article is to propose proactive policies which allow state and local governments to participate in the global economy, offering the opportunities and venues for effective development. The first section develops the argument that the changing economic conditions associated with globalization call for a new approach to state-local economic development policy. It outlines three assumptions which, the authors think, are critical to drive successful state and local economic development policy in a global environment.
