The concept of employability has provided a foundation for much current labour market policy. It has also provided a useful framework for analyzing national and urban labour markets and related policies in a variety of different circumstances both for those in and out of work.The papers in this book help progress the concept of employability, demonstrating the importance of the geographic and spatial context, and showing its flexibility and usefulness as a basis for theory, analysi...

This title was first published in 2000: This volume addresses the prominent role given to institution-building, institutional change and governance in the regional development strategies and policies. The establishment of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, and the arrival of regional development agencies in England highlighted the need to put the initiatives into some context, drawing on experience from across Europe on the critical factors in the determination...

Drawing on studies and expertise from around the world, this book describes the transition from research to policy and covers the pre-requisites to successful new firm formation policies. At a time when a new firm formation is promoted by central and local government, business development agencies and the private sector, this book questions the economic dependence on small firms and explores the relevance of networking, information and advice.

Across Europe, regional development agencies (RDAs) have become a central feature of regional policy, both as innovative policy-makers and as the implementers of programmes and initiatives originating from the national or European level. By drawing on a combination of conceptual reflection, surveys, comparative research, and systematic use of critical case studies, this book provides a new point of reference by identifying key features of the current, and, indeed next, generation of region...

This book draws on work from across northern Europe and is parallel and complementary to the network itself. By establishing an intellectual and practically orientated framework and platform, and by bringing together contributions defining the state-of-the-art and potential development paths in the field, it is the first volume to offer a systematic and scientific view from the periphery.

Understanding how public policy is made and managed is a key component in studying the disciplines of public management and administration. Such are the complexities associated with this topic, a deeper understanding is vital to ensure that practising public managers excel in their roles.This textbook synthesizes the key theories, providing a contemporary understanding of public policy and how it relates to private and other sectors. It integrates this with the management and imple...

"A comprehensive and highly readable review of the conceptual underpinnings of economic geography. Students and professional scholars alike will find it extremely useful both as a reference manual and as an authoritative guide to the numerous theoretical debates that characterize the field."- Allen J. Scott, University of California"Guides readers skilfully through the rapidly changing field of economic geography... The key concepts used to structur...

The voluntary nonprofit sector is now involved in all aspects of people's lives. The management of such organizations has never been of more interest than it is now, and the sector as a whole is in a period of great change. Well-meaning amateurs are being replaced by highly committed and professional leaders, and one in every six employees in the service sector is now working in the voluntary sector. In this shifting climate, this enlightening book questions whether voluntary organizations...

How can we ensure high-quality public services such as health care and education? Governments spend huge amounts of public money on public services such as health, education, and social care, and yet the services that are actually delivered are often low quality, inefficiently run, unresponsive to their users, and inequitable in their distribution. In this book, Julian Le Grand argues that the best solution is to offer choice to users and to encourage competition among providers. Le Grand ...

The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Work and Employment is a landmark collection of original contributions by leading specialists from around the world.The coverage is both comprehensive and comparative (in terms of time and space) and each ‘state of the art’ chapter provides a critical review of the literature combined with some thoughts on the direction of research. This authoritative text is structured around six core themes:Historical Context an...

How should the metropolis be governed? What is the appropriate scale to consider and organize local governance and communities? Bringing together an interdisciplinary and international body of scholarly work, City-Regions in Prospect? explores the city-region as both an evolving concept and as a growing area of planning practice.Contributors raise critical questions about the ways in which governance reform is being reshaped and whether current trends towards rescaling and...

The only up-to-date, accessibly written short guide to community development, this third edition offers an invaluable and authoritative introduction. Fully updated to reflect changes in policy, practice, economics and culture, it will equip readers with an understanding of the history and theory of community development, as well as practical guidance on how to do it. This is a key text for all students and practitioners working with communities. It includes: • a broad overview of core them...