<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Undergraduate Economics Textbook
Review: Blair's Local Economic Development is an undergraduate level text on regional economics. In this regard, it automatically fills a need left by the now out-of-print An Introduction to Regional Economics by Edgar M. Hoover and Frank Giarratani. (Frank Giarratani tells me that no future editions are in the offing.) The title difference from the Hoover and Giarratani volume lends a more contemporary flavor to Local Economic Development. Indeed, it adds brief treatments of the following topics: housing and neighborhood development, local public finance, and planning perspectives. Having taught (and in all academic practicality weaned) from Hoover's book, I find Blair's approach to the same subject matter refreshing. In the first chapter, he starts with a sketch of general economic principles_assumptions behind the behavior of individuals and firms; efficiency versus equity; market forces; and some causes of market inefficiencies_and moves quickly through a discussion of the notion of "region." The second chapter briefly edifies some critical economic principles in regional analysis: unemployment and low wages, externalities, and public choice. All of this is achieved in a mere 40 pages. I find such brief introductions necessary for undergraduate urban and regional studies courses, and wish that such a handy text would have been available when I first prepared my lectures. After this theoretical but pragmatic introductory material, Blair immediately hits core material to local political economics_business development. Here he draws as much from his own research experience in "industry targeting" as from the vast literature on industry location. Names like Weber and Hotelling fail to appear here but their main ideas do, however briefly. Most of the chapter is appropriately devoted to explaining such notions as "quality of life," "political climate," "business climate," and other factors thought to influence business location decisions, as well as to explaining the nature of the business location decision process itself. Chapter 4 deals with market areas and central place theory. As he does throughout much of the book, Blair discusses this material with the ultimate goal of providing a means of affecting local economic development through public policy. Hence, he focuses the chapter toward strategies for expanding a center's hinterland. In Chapters 3 and 4, Blair covers (perhaps indirectly) material on inter- and intraregional competition; in Chapter 5 "Understanding Economic Structure," he switches to a discussion of intraregional cohesive forces_agglomeration economies_and their measurement. As in previous chapters Blair does a good job on the main principles first developed by the likes of Walter Isard and as well as Edgar M. Hoover. In this case, however, I found at least one chink in the book's armor-the subject of Marshallian industrial districts (industrial complexes) are not well handled. Why did Detroit develop as a center for the world's auto industry? Why is it dispersing southward toward Birmingham, Alabama? Why are financial districts still relatively strong in major national urban centers? In summary, Blair fails to discuss the dynamics of agglomeration, specifically localization economies. He does not answer or bring up the subject of why some industries still bent on localizing while other are dispersing in an age with declining transactions and shipping costs. In Chapters 6 and 7, Blair takes on the topics of regional development and its measurement. In these chapters he touches on export base theory, shift-share analysis, econometric modeling, and regional input-output analysis. He also discusses region importance-strength analysis, a critical component of industry targeting. Here I found that he may have missed a perfect opportunity to provide some structure via Saaty's analytical hierarchy to a method void of academic rigor. The analytical hierarchy approach is also a good lead into sensitivity analysis for students. Sensitivity of business location decisions to changes in the importance of regional characteristics would be an ideal and pragmatic application of this tool. After returning to terse theoretical economic treatments of welfare economics and factor mobility, Local Economic Development turns to topics of land use, housing, and neighborhood development in Chapters 10 and 11. The section on housing is one of the best in the book, evenly covering all of the basic requirements in a mere 25 pages. The organization and content of the section on land use is less well developed. For a book that is oriented to practitioners, Blair gets bogged down in defining economic theories of land rent. Consequently, sharp transitions are required to and from the section entitled "The Land Development Process," most of which deals with project feasibility. In addition both the transition to and the discussion of government's potential role in development planning are left wanting. The chapter on government is almost strictly a lesson on public taxation and the allocation of public goods, and less on ways in which government can induce local economic development. For this reason Chapter 12 was the most disappointing of the lot, despite its quality discussion of the more theoretical aspects of government finance. The most pragmatic piece in the chapter was a discussion of cost/benefit analyses. Despite my comments on the particular contents of some chapters, I found that Local Economic Development well fills a need for a combined treatment of regional economic and planning issues at the undergraduate level. Its greater depth on topics in economics-its main strength-lends it more for use in survey courses in regional economics. The book's weakest component is its coverage of government policy and planning tools. Planners will find the book particularly wanting at times, although unlike economists they are more likely to be aware of readings that fill its main gaps.
Rating:
Summary: Undergraduate Economics Textbook
Review: Blair's Local Economic Development is an undergraduate level text on regional economics. In this regard, it automatically fills a need left by the now out-of-print An Introduction to Regional Economics by Edgar M. Hoover and Frank Giarratani. (Frank Giarratani tells me that no future editions are in the offing.) The title difference from the Hoover and Giarratani volume lends a more contemporary flavor to Local Economic Development. Indeed, it adds brief treatments of the following topics: housing and neighborhood development, local public finance, and planning perspectives. Having taught (and in all academic practicality weaned) from Hoover's book, I find Blair's approach to the same subject matter refreshing. In the first chapter, he starts with a sketch of general economic principles_assumptions behind the behavior of individuals and firms; efficiency versus equity; market forces; and some causes of market inefficiencies_and moves quickly through a discussion of the notion of "region." The second chapter briefly edifies some critical economic principles in regional analysis: unemployment and low wages, externalities, and public choice. All of this is achieved in a mere 40 pages. I find such brief introductions necessary for undergraduate urban and regional studies courses, and wish that such a handy text would have been available when I first prepared my lectures. After this theoretical but pragmatic introductory material, Blair immediately hits core material to local political economics_business development. Here he draws as much from his own research experience in "industry targeting" as from the vast literature on industry location. Names like Weber and Hotelling fail to appear here but their main ideas do, however briefly. Most of the chapter is appropriately devoted to explaining such notions as "quality of life," "political climate," "business climate," and other factors thought to influence business location decisions, as well as to explaining the nature of the business location decision process itself. Chapter 4 deals with market areas and central place theory. As he does throughout much of the book, Blair discusses this material with the ultimate goal of providing a means of affecting local economic development through public policy. Hence, he focuses the chapter toward strategies for expanding a center's hinterland. In Chapters 3 and 4, Blair covers (perhaps indirectly) material on inter- and intraregional competition; in Chapter 5 "Understanding Economic Structure," he switches to a discussion of intraregional cohesive forces_agglomeration economies_and their measurement. As in previous chapters Blair does a good job on the main principles first developed by the likes of Walter Isard and as well as Edgar M. Hoover. In this case, however, I found at least one chink in the book's armor-the subject of Marshallian industrial districts (industrial complexes) are not well handled. Why did Detroit develop as a center for the world's auto industry? Why is it dispersing southward toward Birmingham, Alabama? Why are financial districts still relatively strong in major national urban centers? In summary, Blair fails to discuss the dynamics of agglomeration, specifically localization economies. He does not answer or bring up the subject of why some industries still bent on localizing while other are dispersing in an age with declining transactions and shipping costs. In Chapters 6 and 7, Blair takes on the topics of regional development and its measurement. In these chapters he touches on export base theory, shift-share analysis, econometric modeling, and regional input-output analysis. He also discusses region importance-strength analysis, a critical component of industry targeting. Here I found that he may have missed a perfect opportunity to provide some structure via Saaty's analytical hierarchy to a method void of academic rigor. The analytical hierarchy approach is also a good lead into sensitivity analysis for students. Sensitivity of business location decisions to changes in the importance of regional characteristics would be an ideal and pragmatic application of this tool. After returning to terse theoretical economic treatments of welfare economics and factor mobility, Local Economic Development turns to topics of land use, housing, and neighborhood development in Chapters 10 and 11. The section on housing is one of the best in the book, evenly covering all of the basic requirements in a mere 25 pages. The organization and content of the section on land use is less well developed. For a book that is oriented to practitioners, Blair gets bogged down in defining economic theories of land rent. Consequently, sharp transitions are required to and from the section entitled "The Land Development Process," most of which deals with project feasibility. In addition both the transition to and the discussion of government's potential role in development planning are left wanting. The chapter on government is almost strictly a lesson on public taxation and the allocation of public goods, and less on ways in which government can induce local economic development. For this reason Chapter 12 was the most disappointing of the lot, despite its quality discussion of the more theoretical aspects of government finance. The most pragmatic piece in the chapter was a discussion of cost/benefit analyses. Despite my comments on the particular contents of some chapters, I found that Local Economic Development well fills a need for a combined treatment of regional economic and planning issues at the undergraduate level. Its greater depth on topics in economics-its main strength-lends it more for use in survey courses in regional economics. The book's weakest component is its coverage of government policy and planning tools. Planners will find the book particularly wanting at times, although unlike economists they are more likely to be aware of readings that fill its main gaps.
<< 1 >>
| 
