A new kind of peripherality? The importance of non-spatial factors for regional economic development (361)

Theme Track: Rural and Peripheral Areas - Sustainable Development

Authors:
Lückenkötter, Johannes ; Panebianco, Stefano

The term peripherality is traditionally used to describe regions which are geographically distant from economic, demographic or political core regions. Because of higher transport costs to move goods or people to the core regions, peripheral regions can be expected to have serious economic handicaps.

However, at a time when physical distance and travel costs are becoming less and less a constraint to economic activity, other non-spatial factors are gaining importance, such as the quality of business networks, social capital or the use of information and telecommunication technologies. Such factors can compensate or worsen the adverse effects of a peripheral location. Thus there are peripheral regions (e.g. some Scandinavian regions) which are nevertheless able to generate high economic growth rates, while more centrally located regions with adverse aspatial characteristics are less successful.

The paper is based on the on-going EU-funded research project AsPIRE and will start with a brief discussion of different concepts, models, indicators and policies relating to peripherality. The paper will then present preliminary findings of a business survey and qualitative interviews of relevant regional actors of two peripheral regions in Germany (Bitburg-PrCm and Rottal-Inn). A comparisons with other European regions and an outlook into subsequent phases of the AsPIRE project will conclude the presentation.

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