A Regulationist Approach to Regional Studies

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Abstract
In this paper regulation theory is reexamined in order to further its methodological programme in the area of regional studies. The complex and many-sided determinants of regional development are brought together in a regulationist conceptual framework which emphasizes the socioeconomic patterns of interaction, interfirm linkages and industrial labour relations, supportive institutions, and politics in a region. This conceptual framework for regional studies gives key importance to the regions' institutional resources and the differentiation of regional systems of regulation. From the point of view of a regulationist approach, the quality of a region's system of regulation and the degree of coherence achieved in its development configuration can be seen as a foundation for the region's development potential.