Competitiveness of Places: the Remaining Methodological Problems

[摘要] Despite having to this day accumulated an impressive body of works concerned with competition and competitiveness of cities, regions, and countries, this field of regional studies still lacks a more or less widely accepted understanding of the concept of regional (territorial) competition. We identify two main existing approaches to interpreting regional competitiveness: expressed through quantitative differences between regions and viewing regions as pseudo-corporations. We investigate problems and possibilities created by either approach and note that in practical terms this field is dominated by the quantitative comparative analysis using integral indices of competitiveness. We note the methodological problems with the existing situation and propose a methodological approach which combines the "regional concept" with territorial marketing as a way forward.

[发布机构] Economic Research Institute Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Khabarovsk, Russia^1

[关键词] Comparative analysis;Integral index;Methodological approach;Methodological problems;Viewing regions