Economic Development Strategies: Examples from Europe and Australia

Abstract

By looking at very different aspects of regional economic development theory and policy as well as geographical areas, this paper provides a foundation of economic strategies applicable to many regions. The focus is set on a flexible and holistic approach to be able to include a wide range of economic development and wellbeing indictor and to offer an alternative to the neoclassical development framework. The European regional policy is used as an example to analyse policy in a theoretical economic development framework. The Australian example is a practical case study of a small rural shire showing the issues individual regions are facing when they are dealing with regional development on a local level.