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Considers whether a change of government in the United Kingdom will lead to a more successful attempt to end a conflict that has brought misery to Ulster and Britain and exhausted the creative energies of successive British administrations. (Original abstract-amended)

This title was first published in 2000. Since New Labour were elected in 1997, there have been substantial changes made to local and regional economic development policy in the UK. This volume offers an up-to-date overview, setting the new policies within a wider historic context and suggesting future developments. It examines four of these new policies in depth - Regional Development Agencies, New Deal local partnerships, Local Learning and Skills Councils, and the Small Business Service and Business link. In doing so, it offers a critical appraisal of how effective these changes have been in tackling issues such as developing human resources, skills and opportunities, developing land infrastructure and sites, capital formation and development, encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship and technological change and enhancing a supportive institutional context.

1. Why does policy matter to entrepreneurs and small business? -- 2. The case for policy -- 3. Constraints on policy -- 4. Policy institutions and meta-institutions -- 5. Small business and entrepreneurship policy in the USA -- 6. Britain : policy evolution in the 'earliest industrial nation' -- 7. East and Southeast Asian 'exceptionalism' : Japan and South Korea -- 8. China -- 9. Developing and transition economies -- 10. Evolution and revolution : new opportunities, old dangers.

As many countries around the world grapple with political and market reform, lively debate is growing around questions concerning the conditions under which decentralization policies are called for, which policies and strategies work, and how transferable they are. This timely study looks closely at the possibilities for and limitations of decentralization in industrialized, developing, and former Eastern bloc countries. Of particular interest is Part One of the book, which concentrates on an in-depth analysis of decentralization developments in the new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe. Under the themes of (a) political and administrative development, (b) governance and services, (c) services and revenues, and (d) urban and regional dimensions, the book traces the decentralization experiences of the developing countries, the countries of the former USSR and Eastern Europe, as well as OECD countries. The first such comprehensive study of these issues, this volume also boasts several contributions by ministers and senior officials in charge of local reforms in their respective countries. This timely and important look at current developments in decentralization will be of great interest to students of decentralization, regional development, and the transition from centralized to market economies, and to those responsible for creating and implementing the relevant policy.

The author uses new survey evidence of sector business associations and local chamber of commerce services. He analyses the membership of these bodies by size and type of business. In the main part of the empirical analysis the author assesses association services in four categories: (1) individual services to members, (2) excludable collective services available only to members, (3) nonexcludable services available to all businesses, and (4) self-regulation. It is demonstrated that association services tend to develop in niche markets chiefly by diversification rather than by intensification. Most associations seek to develop excludable and individual services as their primary focus. Because of this inherent tendency, government policy is most likely to be successful if it works with the grain of these trends rather than against them. Hence, government policy is argued to have had too high an emphasis on using associations to develop the individual competitiveness of their members, rather than focusing on their role to improve collective industry standards and through this individual business performance. Failure to recognise the limitations of individual supports by associations may undermine the potential of the government's 1998 white paper on competitiveness.

Surveys of Chambers of Commerce (CCs) in the UK (N unspecified) examine the motives for membership, size, & extent of coverage of potential members. CCs in the UK are voluntary membership organizations that derive their income from subscriptions, fees, commercial activities, & contracts with government. Results indicate that the major motives for CC membership were to obtain a useful service, make contacts, & help marketing. Those who opted not to join a local CC cited the belief that the CC could not help them, membership takes too much time, or membership was never considered. The size of CCs depends significantly on whether the CCs provide business services or are merely membership bodies. Those offering a range of specific service benefits have achieved a reasonable level of encompassing, while smaller CCs offer a high level of encompassing of interests over a small geographical area but provide few services. Voluntary CCs that tend to focus on specific services rather than broader collective goods are particularly vulnerable to competition from public sector providers that receive subsidies. The scope for CCs to act as bodies for business self-regulation is extremely limited. 6 Tables, 48 References. Adapted from the source document.