Regional Economic Resilience

June 1, 2008

Funding: MacArthur Foundation (through the University of California-Berkeley)

Summary: As part of the MacArthur Foundation’s project on regional resilience, the primary goals of our study were to identify through rigorous quantitative analysis economically resilient and economically non-resilient regions, to explore the differences between the two (why are some resilient and others not), and to come to some conclusions about the way in which regional economies can become more resilient. In particular we examined whether regions that have experienced negative economic shocks recover and, if so, how. We are also explored through a set of intensive case studies the role of economic agency (private sector decision making in markets, hierarchies, and networks) and public policy, planning, and politics, in that process.