Routledge Regional Policy in Britain (Routledge Library Editions: Urban and Regional Economics)

Originally published in 1973. At that time, imbalance in the economic performance of regions had become of increasing concern to politicians and economists in many European counties. British policy was of particular interest: not only because the changes of the 1960s made it more comprehensive than in most other countries; but as some sort of regional policy had been in operation for more than thirty years, many lessons could be learned from its evolution. This book provides a comprehensive study of this aspect of British policy. It starts by outlining the nature of the British regional problem, the case for a policy and the contribution of economic theory to the understanding of the regional question. In later Parts the development of British policy up to 1967 is described along with its impact on the performance of individual regions and different measures are evaluated with a view to increasing the effectiveness of policy. The final chapter outlines the regional policy of the European Economic Community and shows what effect membership would have on British policy. Review Reviews of the original edition: "An excellent and comprehensive account of the evolution of regional policy in Great Britain. It is divided into three roughly equal parts concerned with the case for a regional policy, how policy has developed with some appraisal of effects and a critical evaluation of different policy measures. A great deal of specialised work in this field is pulled together." The Economic Journal "Dr McCrone is to be congratulated on this balanced, rational and lucid survey: it will be most useful to students, regional planners, officials and politicians....The outstanding quality of the book is that, whilst it is comprehensive and scholarly, many of Dr McCrone's own reflections give fresh insight into some of the more confused issues which face the regional policy maker." Public Administration "Dr McCrone's excellent and indispensable book is...a work of great scholarship." The Political Quarterly "The best study of regional planning in Britain yet published...a wealth of argument and information...it is very readable." Economics "Gavin McCrone has written just the book everyone needed: a comprehensive and succinct account...It is a book that can confidently be recommended to any student of the subject." Regional Studies