Local and regional economic development in Britain
A series of ongoing projects on local and regional institutions. This includes assessing the UK Labour government's RDAs, LLSCs, Local government and Business Links; and since 2010 the UK Coalition government's abolition of RDAs, local government reforms, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) and Enterprise Zones. This has received major project grants from the Leverhulme Trust.
Publications
- Using the Relation Between Business Associations and SMEs as a Policy Tool: From History to LEPs, ISBE Conference paper, presented at Sheffield, November 2011. Winner of ISBE prize for Best Policy Paper 2011.
- Ramsden, M. Bennett, R.J. and Fuller, C. (2007) Local economic development initiatives and the transition from Training and Enterprise Councils to new institutional structures in England, Policy Studies, 28 (3), 225-244.
- Bennett, R. J., Fuller, C. and Ramsden, M., (2004) Local Government and local economic development in Britain: An evaluation of developments under Labour, Progress in Planning, 62 (4), 1-66.
- Ramsden, M., Bennett, R.J., and Fuller, C. (2004) The Learning and Skills Council and the institutional infrastructure for post-16 education and training: An initial assessment, Journal of Education and Work, 17 (4), 397-420.
- Fuller, C., Bennett, R.J. and Ramsden, M. (2004) Local Government and the changing institutional landscape of economic development in England and Wales, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 22, 317-347.
- Ramsden, M., Bennett, R.J. and Fuller C. (2004) Short-term policy and the changing institutional landscape of post-16 education and training: the case of learning partnerships in England, Scotland and Wales, Journal of Education and Work, 17 (2), 139-165.
- Bratton, W., Bennett, R.J. and P.J.A. Robson, (2003) Critical mass and economies of scale in the supply of services by business support organisations, Journal of Services Marketing, 17(7), 730-752.
- Bennett, R.J., C. Fuller and M. Ramsden (2002) The economic development role of English RDAs: The need for greater discretionary power, Regional Studies, 36 (4), 421-428.
- Bennett, R.J. and D.A. Payne (2000) Local and Regional Economic Development: renegotiating power under Labour (Ashgate, Aldershot)