- Title
- Path-dependence and economic geography: a regional economic evolutionary study towards effective LED in marginalised towns
- Creator
- Phillips, Burton Richard
- Subject
- Economic geography -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Subject
- Space in economics Regional economics Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date Issued
- 2019
- Date
- 2019
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MBA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/43171
- Identifier
- vital:36754
- Description
- Small Karoo towns in South Africa, in particular the Easter Cape province has endured marginalised recognition in the development of their local economy and its ability to adapt to social change. The latter has been intensified by shifts in agricultural production, land use, and changing state policy. These aspects are of particular interest to a semi-arid landscape. Agriculture, being the predominant trade, has been subject to various commodity market changes and the diminutive state of farms due to climate changes affecting agricultural estate for feeding and other basic purposes has increased. Parallel to the regressive reasons given, small-towns have been subject to a peculiar rise in population which exacted an increase in dependency on the region’s limited administrative capacity. Local economic development (LED) projects are, more often than not, transitory and contribute very little to the town’s sustainability. Underpinning poor development are challenges such as an inability to acquire necessary human capital as well as good public administration and a supporting private business stakeholder relationship. Literature on strategies for small-town development seldom addresses the unique circumstances interweaved with their own casual complexities. Thus, an evolutionary geography approach was proposed which considers the economy of an area as an evolutionary process that unfolds in space and time. It entails a comparative analysis of an economy’s past decisions (history) and geographical changes (spatial). Moreover, adding a significant contribution to the rationale of this study is the opportunity to explore the concept and reality of marginalisation in the former Baviaanskloof Local Municipality (BLM). The aim thereof, to ascertain whether geography (i.e., natural advantages) or histories (i.e., man-made advantages) are the main determinants for the spatial distribution of economic activity, and what place-dependent strategies are most suitable to deliver effective LED.
- Format
- xiii, 123 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | BURTON RICHARD PHILLIPS.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |