Do Institutions Matter for Regional Development?

Rodr�guez-Pose A. Do institutions matter for regional development?, Regional Studies . This paper discusses whether institutions matter for regional development and how to integrate them in regional development strategies. It is found that while institutions are crucial for economic development, generating an institution-based regional development strategy is likely to be undermined by the lack of definition of what are efficient institutions. Problems related to the measurement of institutions, to their space and time variability, to the difficulties in establishing the right mix of formal and informal institutions, and to the endogeneity between institutions and economic development make one-size-fits-all…