Examines trends in the flows of direct investment to the West Midlands region of the UK during the 1980s. An analysis of Invest in Britain Bureau data reveals two trends of particular interest: the marked increase in the WMR′s share of FDI flows to the UK during the 1980s, and the unusually...

This paper examines SMEs' experiences of labour markets and their adoption of technology, including ICTs, in two rural areas: South Warwickshire and North Devon. Findings are assessed within the context of existing theories of rural industrial growth, which have tended to stereotype firms on the...

This paper seeks to present a new approach to the implementation of local economic development policies. It takes evidence from such areas as physics, biology, and management theory and proposes that a new 'model' may be the way forward for economic development activities. The new paradigm is...

This paper examines the nature, relative importance and spatial patterns of the changes made over a six-year period by a representative sample of 64 small and medium size multiplant enterprises to the number, location, size and products of their plants. The locational changes occurred...

This article updates previous research published in Local Economy in 2011 that examined the changing context of neighbourhood regeneration policy and practice in the first year of the UK Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government. At that juncture, based on early signs of political and...

The policy framework to encourage the manufacture and adoption of low carbon vehicles presents new opportunities for traditional automotive manufacturing regions. This article examines such opportunities in the West Midlands region of the UK, where the automotive ‘cluster’ remains...

Cluster policy in the UK, pursued by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), has readily adopted a simplistic definition based upon industrial sectors and location quotients. Evidence drawn from a study of the operating behaviour of SMEs belonging to two traditional manufacturing industries...

MG Rover was the final name by which the British Leyland Motor Corporation (BLMC) became known. BLMC had been formed in 1968 upon a government initiative to strengthen the UK's automotive industry so that it could compete effectively with the American and other European multinationals in...

B<sc>ailey</sc> D. and B<sc>erkeley</sc> N. Regional responses to recession: the role of the West Midlands Regional Taskforce, <italic>Regional Studies</italic>. Regional taskforces were set up across the English regions in late 2008 in response to the most severe recession since the Second World War. This paper examines the role...

This article analyses and critiques attempts by UK policymakers, driven by environmental and economic concerns, to promote the low carbon vehicle sector. In particular the efforts of government departments such as Business, Innovation and Skills; Transport; Energy and Climate Change; and the...