Coping with Adversity: Regional Economic Resilience and Public Policy

Metropolitan economies sometimes experience economic adversity, with resulting serious impacts on the area's residents and institutions.  The causes, nature, and length of these regional economic problems vary.  The question we address in this book is why some regions are resilient in the face of economic adversity, while others are not.  In particular we examine the role of public policy and intentional activity in achieving resiliency; what strategies and policies can regions pursue to help bring about economic resilience and long-term economic health and what are the implications for economic development policymakers and practitioners. Our analysis covers the period from 1978 to 2014.  We separate out the Great Recession years and their aftermath (2007-2014) in order to assess the effect of this severe and prolonged shock. We also look closely at six American metropolitan areas to determine what strategies they employed, which of these contributed to economic resilience, and which did not.