Theories of Localised Resource-Based Growth and Development - from Marshall to New Evolutionary Economics

This paper presents a set of theories of localised resource-based growth and development that have helped analysts and policy makers to consider if and how alternative employment can be promoted in relation to the natural-resource-based industries that show a rapid decrease of employment in many regions. Marshall’s theory of industrial evolution and industrial districts has especially emphasised that development is primarily knowledge based and only secondarily natural-resource based. It has also helped to focus on the role of localised labour markets and networks of firms. The post-Schumpeterian theories of growth poles and development blocks have helped to promote a closer look at the interfirm linkages that may play an important role in the development process. Recent evolutionary-economic theories have emphasised the role of different technological regimes dominating the innovation process in different industries. It has also focused in the role of linkages between suppliers and users of products in promoting innovation. The problem with most of the theories of localised development is that they are quite difficult to formalise. The paper suggests that this problem has become easier to overcome with the development of evolutionary economics. In relation to the standard evolutionary model of Schumpeterian competition a model is sketched that emphasise the emergence of increasingly complex vertical division of labour – both inside and between firms. It is suggested that such a model will help to understand the processes of localised knowledge-based and natural-resource-based growth and development.