Territorial competition

Territorial competition is a form of collective action, undertaken on behalf of economic interests within a particular territory, which serves to advance these in competition with those of interests located in (some or all) other territories. It encompasses location marketing, public goods provision, and creation of membership markets in economic community, with an emphasis on how different kinds of choice among these are made in different contexts. The perspective is one of political economy, involving strong interactions between ‘political’ and ‘economic’ processes. In particular. collective action problems are seen as liable to generate weak and distorted forms of competitive activity in many contexts. The aim of this chapter is to point the way to more realistic understandings of territorial policy-making, of the kind required if more efficient and equitable competitive strategies are to be developed.