How to study locational policies in Secondary Capital Cities: aninterdisciplinary analytical framework

Locational policies aim to enhance the economic competitiveness of localities by developing place-specific assets that are considered to be most competitive. The proposed Locational Policies Framework captures the wide array of policy endeavors of cities to compete in interurban competition. The analytical framework of this book draws from the Varieties of Capitalism theory. This theoretical lens enables the theorizing of local governments as actors that formulate locational policies based on political and economic institutions. The economic institutions are examined using the Regional Innovation System concept, which stems from the economic geography literature. The political institutions are analysed by using the Multilevel Governance concept which has emerged from political science literature. The analytical framework assumes that these two explanatory factors constrain or enable the formulation of different types of locational policies. Furthermore, local decision-makers may draft locational policies which aim at the very structures that simultaneously enable or restrict them.