Format:
1 online resource (166 pages)
ISBN:
9780821381588
Series Statement:
Directions in Development
Content:
The book contributes to answering the questions raised by mayors, governors, and federal government officials in Brazil: "What can cities do to improve economic performance and create jobs?" The question is approached through a review of theories and policy options for city competitiveness, preliminary benchmarking of Brazilian cities.The book concludes that to become and stay competitive, cities need to strive to reduce the cost of doing business by improving services, infrastructure, and reducing bureaucracies. But for a middle-income country like Brazil, which needs to be economically competitive in a globalized environment, this is not sufficient. Cities also need to strive to add value to local businesses. A crucial part of the strategy should be to create and sustain an environment that stimulates local firms to innovate and learn from each other, to nurture and facilitate the creation of synergies generated by the presence of interconnected economic clusters in the city, and to provide incentives for all local players to continuously upgrade the level of competitiveness-to become better and the best.With regard to local policy actions, this book highlights the cluster approach to competitiveness, with its focus on facilitating private sector collaborations for collective efficiency-organizing and facilitating private and public institutions to arrive at a common cluster vision; identifying opportunities for growth and collaboration; promoting joint actions such as co-information, co-learning, co-marketing, and co-purchasing; and jointly building economic foundations such as R&D capacities, infrastructure, skills upgrading, and public-private sector support institutions. This book has provided many examples of actions that may be undertaken at the local level, but it also emphasizes the critical importance for cities to pursue a unique
Content:
Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Executive Summary -- Why City Competitiveness? -- What Is Competitiveness? -- Why Is City Competitiveness Important for Brazil? -- The Study and Outputs -- Chapter 1. What Makes Cities Competitive? Local Determinants of Competitiveness -- Chapter 2. What Can Cities Do to Enhance Competitiveness? -- Chapters 3, 4, and 5. Competitiveness of Brazilian Cities: Initial Benchmarking and Case Studies -- Main Conclusions -- Note -- Chapter 1 What Makes Cities Competitive? A Selective Review of Theories and International Experiences -- Introduction -- Key Messages -- The Rapidly Changing Global Environment and the Need for Competitiveness -- Key Drivers of City Competitiveness -- Summary and Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 2 What Can Cities Do to Enhance Competitiveness? Local Policies and Actions for Innovation -- The Starting Point: Understanding the Market and the Local Economy -- Facilitating Private Sector Collaborations for Collective Efficiency -- Examples of Specific Actions to Enhance Competitiveness -- Pulling It Together-Strategic Plan for Competitiveness -- Building Institutions and Capacity for Local Competitiveness -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 3 Benchmarking the Competitiveness of Brazilian Cities -- Index Construction and Data -- Methodology -- Ranking of Cities -- Conclusions -- Notes -- Chapter 4 The Cariri Region of Ceará and the Footwear Cluster -- An Economic Analysis of Cariri -- The Cariri Footwear Cluster -- Footwear Cluster Features Vision of the Future: The Cluster -- Road Map -- Final Remarks -- Notes -- Chapter 5 São Luís Cluster Development Strategy: An Initial Assessment -- Background -- Analysis of Economic Structure -- Initial Assessment of the Port-Industrial Cluster -- Initial Assessment of the Tourism Cluster.
Note:
Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources
Additional Edition:
ISBN 9780821381571
Additional Edition:
Erscheint auch als Druck-Ausgabe ISBN 9780821381571
Language:
English
