Determinants of Local Economic Performance: Experience from Rural England

Abstract

The determinants of local economic performance have provided a focus for theoretical debate and posed a conundrum for rural policy makers aiming to address local and regional disparities in the face of global competitiveness. The complex interrelationship of potential explanatory factors is conceptualized in terms of five ‘capitals’: economic, human, social, environmental and cultural. Findings from in-depth interviews with local stakeholders in eight English districts emphasise the interplay between local historical and cultural contexts, the capacity of local actors to stimulate development and the potential to create ‘open’ economies and societies in explaining uneven patterns of performance across rural England.