I just finished reading the edited volume Economic Development in New Zealand, edited by James Rowe and published in 2005. Edited volumes are difficult to review, particularly when the collection of chapters have only a loose connection and lack a common thread, and that was the case with this book. Instead, I want to share one overall takeaway from reading the book, and that is how the policy environment for regional economic development has changed immensely since the 2000s. This matters because the way that we organise regional development determines who sets priorities, where capability accumulates, and whether regional growth is sustainable or merely a sequence of centrally funded projects.
So, what has changed? We can think about how leadership and decision-making has changed, how funding and strategy-setting has changed, and how the roles of business, educational institutions, and the research sector have changed.
In the mid-2000s, regional economic development had a lot of prominence, and it has seen a bit of a revival in recent years. However, there are some substantial differences in how that prominence manifests between the two eras. In the mid-2000s, regional economic development was led by the regions. The central government had an important role in setting the policy environment and steering the direction through funding, but regional development initiatives typically came from the regions. This is exemplified by the Regional Partnerships Programme (RPP), which involved central government funding regions to develop their own plans, build capability, and then back major initiatives coming out of those plans. Business had a strong role in partnership with government, not just as part of the RPP, but more generally. Region-wide strategy and plan development tended to rely on input from local business and industry leaders. There was also an important role for training , research and development, and innovation, and so universities, polytechnics, and Crown research institutes were all closely involved in regional development.
Fast forward to today, and regional development has been embodied in the Provincial Growth Fund, which has a lot of different aims, one of which is to "create jobs, leading to sustainable economic growth", and more recently the Regional Strategic Partnership Fund, which had a much more narrow aim to "make regional economies stronger and more resilient to improve the economic prospects, wellbeing and living standards of all New Zealanders". In both cases, it is central government that is largely the decision-maker, in addition to funding the initiatives, rather than the regions themselves. Business input is now largely channeled through consultation and deal-making, rather than input into the strategic direction of regional development. The rhetoric for business has changed to more of an emphasis on innovation and increasing productivity. That applies to the education and research sectors as well, where the role has shifted to more of a focus on core skills development and innovation, rather than being part of regional strategic plan development.
In between the mid-2000s and today, regional development did go through a bit of a quiet patch. It is clearly back in vogue now, although the policy environment and systems have changed tremendously. What that means is that there is not much from Rowe's edited volume that translates directly to today's situation, sadly. The initiatives that the authors were writing about are long gone, even the AUT Masters degree in Economic Development that one chapter describes has long since closed down. However, the value in reading Rowe's book is that it provides a useful reminder that regional development has long been a goal of central government, and that there is more than one way to approach that goal.
