Policy Review Section

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In this Policy Review Section John Bachtler and Keith Clement of the European Policies Research Centre of the University of Strathclyde examine the likely impact of the completion of the single European Market (SEM) on inward investment into the United Kingdom from the United States, Germany, Japan and Holland. Their work is based on a survey of thirty multinational companies in the chemicals, automobiles, electronics and financial services sectors, together with interviews with a range of business development and trade organizations. Bachtler and Clement argue that there is little indication, as yet, that the SEM will disadvantage the UK with regard to inward investment, particularly from the major sources of the United States and Japan. In the long run, however, they warn that the integration of the Community, combined with the construction of the Channel Tunnel, could be detrimental for the UK problem regions if inward investment preferences shift towards the south of the country. In this connection they point to criticisms of UK infrastructure particularly in relation to the need for better air access from provincial airports, the need for improved roads and the integration of the UK rail network with the European rail system. In the second article, Keith Shaw of Newcastle Polytechnic examines, through a case study of the North East Region, the range of non-elected agencies which have emerged at the local level in the 1980s. The list of such agencies includes Urban Development Corporations, Enterprise Boards, Joint Committees, and Training and Enterprise Councils. Given the emergence of these agencies. Shaw argues that the study of local politics needs to move away from an emphasis on the centrality of the elected local state towards the study of ‘corporatism at the local level’. He suggests a new agenda for the study of local politics which focuses on issues such as the process of accountability, and the nature of decision-making in non-elected agencies together with an examination of the role of the business and professional interest groups which dominate the governing bodies of these agencies.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: