Geography, Institutions and Regional Economic Performance

The book aims to present “traditional features” of regional science (as geographical concepts and institutions), as well as relatively new topics such as innovation and agglomeration economies. In particular it demonstrates that, contrary to what has been argued by recent economics literature, both geography and institutions (or culture) are relevant for local development. In fact, these phenomena, along with the movement of goods and workers, are among the main reasons for persisting development differentials. These intriguing relationships are at the heart of the analysis presented in this book and form the conceptual basis for a promising institutional approach to economic geography.

Dr Riccardo Crescenzi is Programme Director of the MSc in Local Economic Development and Lecturer in Economic Geography at the Department of Geography and Environment at the London School of Economics. He is also affiliated to the LSE Spatial Economics Research Centre. Before joining the LSE, Dr Crescenzi was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute (Florence). He was also a visiting scholar at the LSE and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research is focused on regional economic development and growth, innovation and EU development policies analysis. He has published in international journals, such as “Growth and Change”, “Regional Studies”, “The Journal of Economic Geography” and “The World Economy”. His teaching focuses on the economics of local and regional development. Dr Marco Percoco is Assistant Professor in Urban, Regional and Transport Economics at the Department of Institutional Analysis and Public Management at Universita Bocconi in Milan. He is also Deputy director for International Relations of the Centre for Regional Economics, Transport and Tourism (CERTET) at the same university. Dr Percoco serves in the board of the Italian Regional Science Association and in SR-Italian Journal of Regional Science. His research forcus on local development and transport economics.