Obstacles to local cooperation in fragmented, left-behind economies: an integrated framework

Fostering cooperation among local stakeholders is a core aim of place-based policies, and it can generate economic benefits and help restore a sense of agency in left-behind communities. However, relatively little is known about how to induce local cooperation in low-trust, institutionally weak areas. This article develops an integrated theoretical framework to help diagnose the precise obstacles to cooperation faced in different types of adverse settings. Such a diagnosis can help design tailored local- and macro-level policies to address the obstacles to local cooperation. The utility of the proposed framework is demonstrated using a medium-n comparative case study design.