B. Fingleton - Regional Economic Growth, SMEs and the Wider Europe

REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROWTH, SMEs AND THE WIDER EUROPE

This book makes an important and interesting contribution to the wider debate on European regional development. It looks beyond the confines of the EU proper and combines interesting and relevant case studies from a broader pan-European perspective. Also, the approaches adopted are informed by a variety of theoretical positions.

By addressing the changing roles of SMEs in different regions of Eastern Europe, readers will gain insights into the different dimensions of SME development and the link between SMEs and regional growth.

The book will appeal to academics researching European development and teaching courses in Economics, Social Policy, Urban Studies, Regional Development and Economic Geography, students in various faculties and departments with a regional perspective, economic and regional planners and researchers, and policy makers at national and regional levels.

Edited by
Bernard Fingleton
University of Cambridge, UK
Ayda Eraydin
Middle East Technical University, Turkey
Raffaele Paci
University of Cagliari, Italy

First published 2003 by Ashgate Publishing

Reissued 2018 by Routledge
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Copyright Bernard Fingleton, Ayda Eraydin and Raffaele Paci 2003

Bernard Fingleton, Ayda Eraydin and Raffaele Paci have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as editors of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

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A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 2003041917

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-71452-6 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-19786-9 (ebk)

Martin Andersson , PhD Candidate in Economics, Jnkping International Business School, Jnkping University, Sweden.

Jrat Banyt , Associate Professor, Marketing Department of Economics and Management Faculty, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Vaclav Beran , Associate Professor, Department of Economics and Management, Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic.

Burak Beyhan, Research Assistant, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Milan Buek, Professor, Department of Regional Development and Geography, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

Drago engi , Principal Reseacher, Institute for Social Research Ivo Pilar, Zagreb University, Zagreb, Croatia.

Ayda Eraydin , Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Bernard Fingleton, Chairman of the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Jana Frkov , Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Management, Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic.

Jana Gaparkov , Senior Researcher, Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

Chris Jensen-Butler, Professor and Departmental Chairman, Department of Economics, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK.

Steinar Johansen , Project Manager, Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Oslo, Norway.

Charlie Karlsson, Professor, Economics of Technological Change, Jnkping International Business School, Jnkping University, Sweden.

Bilge Armatl Krolu, Research Assistant, Department of City and Regional Planning, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey.

Vaida Kvainauskait , Lecturer, International Economics and Trade Department of Economics and Management Faculty, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Enrique Lpez-Bazo , Lecturer in Applied Economics and Co-ordinator of the AQR research group at the University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Bjarne Madsen , Director of Research in the Institute of Local Government Studies (AKF), Copenhagen, Denmark.

Edgar Morgenroth , Research Officer, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Dublin, Ireland.

Eoin O'Malley, Senior Research Officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Dublin, Ireland.

Raffaele Paci, Professor of Applied Economics, University of Cagliari and Director of CRENoS (Centre for North South Economic Research), Italy.

Francesco Pigliaru, Professor of Economics, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy.

Maurizio Pugno, Professor of Economics, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.

tefan Rehk , Junior Teaching and Research Associate, Department of Regional Development and Geography, University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

Asta Savaneviien , Associate Professor, Management Department of Economics and Management Faculty of Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Vytautas Snieka , Professor and Head of International Economics and Trade Department of Economics and Management Faculty, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Regina Virvilait , Professor, Head of Marketing, Department of Economics and Management Faculty, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania.

Bernard Fingleton, Ayda Eraydin and Raffaele Paci

The purpose of this book is to explore, by combining interesting and relevant case studies, the different processes underlying regional economic growth and the contribution of SMEs to development. The contribution of SMEs is acknowledged to have underpinned regional policies in many countries in the last two decades, but there is only limited appraisal of the impact. In this book we examine economic development with SMEs in mind, since a key question for all the authors is what instruments can be used to best stimulate the development of lagging regions. What is important in this book is the relative economic growth of regions, the nature of the dynamics and the type of convergence, if any, that might in the long run occur, and what role SMEs might play in this process. The book is written by authors who, on the whole, would considered themselves to live, either physically, emotionally or culturally, on the margins of Europe, or as we like to call it within 'the wider Europe'. The wider Europe is a place where peripherality is a big issue; it is where an adverse location delivers relatively poor access to markets and suppliers, and where small size and remoteness from the corridors of power limit access to the agenda setting debate about the continent's governance. The problems posed by a relatively remote location and exclusion from the social and economic mainstream of the continent therefore loom large in the consciousness of the contributing authors, whether they come from Sardinia, Norway, Slovakia, Ireland or Turkey. This commonality of experience, of being on the outside and looking towards the centre, with relatively limited control over our economic prospects, is what provides a unity of purpose and perception which is a thread running through the book. In spite of our diversity in terms of theoretical stance, preferred methodological tools, or interpretation of the dominant forces controlling the economic landscape we inhabit, there is an underlying harmony among the contributors which elevates to a high status questions of policy and process related to the relative economic development of the regions, from which all else flows.