Place-Based Economic Policy: Innovation or Fad?

This paper explores the emerging concept of place-based economic policy. It reviews recent literature on place-based economics policy, especially regional competitiveness policy, and explores the adoption and diffusion of this concept by economic development practitioners and social science researchers. It attempts to answer the question: Are place-based economic policy and the underlying conceptual foundations lasting innovations, or are they fads which economic development practitioners and social scientists will adopt until another fad emerges? The conclusion is that economic development practitioners and social scientists do tend to respond to fads. To ensure that regional economic development policy is not dominated by fads, social scientists must get out in front of economic development practitioners far enough to thoroughly develop and test regional competitiveness and other place-based economic theories.