Public Investment and Regional Economic Development

Felsenstein (geography, Hebrew U. of Jerusalem, Israel), McQuaid (economics, Napier U., Scotland), McCann (economics, U. of Reading, England), and Shefer (urban and regional economics, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel) present 15 papers that attempt to elucidate endogenous strategies of public investment for regional development. Arguing that traditional neoclassical exogenous strategies (in which investment comes from outside the region) has proven to be of dubious value for development, the editors contend the investment in human capital and knowledge infrastructure from within regions can have self-reinforcing effects that will lead to better growth in development. These "soft" investments also need to be linked with "hard" investments in physical infrastructure such as roads, buildings, and the like. Articles look at the lessons of policy experience arising from past experience with regional economic change, examine issues of innovation and knowledge creation, discuss the complex relation between human capital investment and regional labor markets, and relate the role of investment in physical infrastructure to the preceding discussions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)