E-commerce, Competitiveness and Local and Regional Governance in Greater Manchester and Merseyside: A Preliminary Assessment

Abstract

This paper assesses two northern cities' relative attractiveness to firms supplying e-commerce services and the relative significance and impact of supportive local and regional interventions. Contrary to the hype, e-commerce has not as yet fundamentally changed the relative status of these two city-regions and appears to be reinforcing existing power relations, hierarchies and income distribution. Local interventions remain at the formative stage and as yet are not as critical as market criteria such as the price of Internet access and central government policies relating to regulation, data protection, security and tax. Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) have, however, played a pivotal role in both cities in spawning spin-off companies and supplying higher-order skills. Greater efforts have been made to provide appropriate business support services in Greater Manchester. There is scope to develop regional policies with an e-commerce component, given continuing imbalances.