Investigating the Governance Mechanisms that Sustain Regional Economic Resilience and Inclusive Growth

We review the literature on regional economic resilience and discuss how it interrelates with systems of governance, local sustainability and inclusive growth. Resilience is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon shaped by pre-existing structural conditions, networks as well as institutional and governance configurations. We discuss the Greater Manchester devolution and Preston municipal socialism styles of governance and compare their economic resilience and recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis. Our key empirical finding from our economic resilience scorecard is that Manchester has been the most resilient sub-region, particularly in the recovery of jobs since the crisis, while peripheral areas have continued to suffer. Preston has experienced increased productivity but at the expense of declining employment which is yet to recover. Preston, in following community wealth building policies, has had a more equitable recovery and is improving well-being for its citizens. In our policy recommendations we suggest local authorities need greater capacity and redundancy in the system and local economic development strategies need to encourage firms to invest in green innovation to deal with future crisis.