Policy Review Section

In this Policy Review Section, Peter Dicken and Adam Tickell of the School of Geography, University of Manchester, examine the competitive bidding process for inward investment in the three regions of Northern England: The North West; the Northern region; and Yorkshire and Humberside. The article considers a number of policy issues arising from the institutional structure of inward investment promotion at national, regional and local levels, the competitive strategies adopted by regional and local agencies and the role and stance adopted by local authorities in regard to regional development organizations. In the second article, David Hitchens and Esmond Birnie of the Queen's University of Belfast, and Keith Wagner of the Technische Universität, Berlin, examine the likely effectiveness of the current review of economic policy making in Northern Ireland. The article draws on wider industrial policy literature and experience and uses Northern Ireland as a test case for the likely effectiveness of competitiveness-orientated policies.