Learning from Local Economic Development Cases
| Date | 01 September 2009 |
| Published date | 01 September 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2009.02052.x |
| Author | Eric S. Zeemering |
Book Reviews 991
Learning from Local Economic Development Cases
Eric Zeemering is an assistant professor
in the Department of Public Administration
at San Francisco State University, where
he teaches intergovernmental relations
and urban administration. His research on
interlocal cooperation has been published in
Public Administration Review
and
State and
Local Government Review.
E-mail: zeem@sfsu.edu
Eric S. Zeemering
San Francisco State University
Douglas J. Watson and John C. Morris, eds., Build-
ing the Local Economy: Cases in Economic
Development (Athens, GA: Carl Vinson Institute
of Government, 2008). $42.95 (paper), ISBN:
9780898542295.
In Building e Local Economy: Cases In Economic
Development, Douglas J. Watson and John C.
Morris collect 15 case studies to inform our think-
ing about local economic development. Watson and
Morris explain that local governments have become
“major players” in economic development. ey frame
the book as a collection of cases that will help us better
understand the role of local governments in this fi eld.
Watson and Morris argue that local governments
increasingly use cooperation and collaboration within
their communities to achieve a more competitive
position in economic development. While coopera-
tion and competition alone might provide a successful
framework for a discussion of the topic, the introduc-
tion identifi es additional themes, including variation
in the organizational structures that support economic
development, the need for easily accessible space and
physical infrastructure, the importance of vision and
leadership, and luck. e book includes a few cases
that can help us reassess the way in which we think
about competition and cooperation in local economic
development. Many of the cases focus their attention
on a specifi c strategy or technique, without extensive
development of the cooperation theme. In the end,
we are left to draw our own conclusions about what
can be learned from the cases as a collection. Still, the
individual chapters may provide useful examples or
ideas for students or local offi cials.
e cases off er descriptions of specifi c economic
development projects from across the United States.
Most of the cases focus on local institutions and
policy challenges, and actions taken by city govern-
ments. Local governments, however, are rarely the
sole actors in local economic development initiatives.
As promised in the introduction, the book catalogs
the diversity of actors brought together in networks
to advance local development goals. For example,
Heike Mayer (chapter 4) examines the development
of the technology sector in Portland, Oregon. e
case describes the region’s historical defi cit in educa-
tion and training for high-tech jobs, and outlines
how industry, universities, and local governments
have attempted to improve workforce development.
e case off ers lessons that are consistent with other
studies in the book. Coordination to enhance local
economic development involves ongoing commu-
nication, a persistent pursuit of specifi c goals, and
policy makers who are ready to make adjustments
to overcome barriers. Like other chapters in this
volume, Mayer’s discussion of Portland does not off er
an “ideal case” of economic development success.
Instead, the case illuminates the diffi culties that
government and the business sector have negotiated
over time. e case details how multiple community
actors have adjusted individual objectives, formed
coalitions, and slowly moved toward a common
development goal.
State governments and state–local relations play a no-
ticeable role in the development of the cooperation and
competition theme. e editors note in the introduc-
tion that state policy initiatives in the early twentieth
century initiated much of the economic development
competition that we see today. e cases provide
deeper lessons about the state role in local economic
development. For example, Michele Hoyman and her
coauthors (chapter 15) investigate North Carolina
community leaders’ attitudes about prison siting. e
authors contrast the state’s voluntary siting process
with procedures used for prison location decisions in
other states, and they conclude that state policy helps
to explain why North Carolina does not experience the
fi erce local competition found in some Midwestern
states. In other cases, the state takes on a critical role
in convening local economic development networks.
Paula Loomis and John Morris (chapter 13) explain
how action by the governor of Arizona was important
for the development of a network to plan for the rede-
velopment of Williams Air Force Base. Clear discussion
of state–local partnerships in economic development is
a useful contribution of this volume. Whether through
allocation policies or participation in local planning,
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