COMPETITIVENESS POLICY WEEK: JUNE 5^TH TO 8^TH 2012  

 
A profound understanding of competitiveness and competitiveness initiatives, and their application in economic development policies is key for any modern policymaker. The first week of the Summer School is addressed particularly to those policymakers and economists in governmental bodies – be it at supranational, national or regional levels – in charge of designing and shaping development, innovation and competitiveness policies. This week's courses are also important for practitioners working in competitiveness programs, to understand the general policy framework where their programs and actions are coming from.  The subjects covered in this course are: 

Microeconomics of Competitiveness 

Tuesday 5^th and Friday 8^th, 4 sessions 

Instructor: Christian Ketels  

The course will lay the theoretical foundations of competitiveness, and their implications for development policies. The course will use cases to help understand the importance of locations and clusters, as well as the policies to upgrade them in different regional, national, and supranational settings (Finland, New York, Singapore, and California).

Regional Competitiveness Programs

Tuesday 5^th through Friday 8^th, 4 sessions

Instructor: Emiliano Duch

This course provides an introduction to the common pitfalls and key issues to take into account when working at the regional level, especially in the selection and implementation of competitiveness initiatives. Prof. Duch will present a four session case study that covers from the creation of the Regional Development Agencies in England in 1999, to their closing in 2010, including the examples of some award winning initiatives with their implications for developing countries, reflecting on the case of the fish industry in Tanzania.

Competitiveness Policy and Evaluation

Thursday 7^th and Friday 8^th, 2 sessions 

Instructors: Jorgen Rosted 

This course will present different practical experiences related to policy and evaluation. Prof. Rosted will present a session of how to approach the initiative screening decision. The policy examples from Denmark will aim to share the lessons learned in the efforts carried out in order to maximize the returns on cluster level work, extracting horizontal level information that has benefited the entire region or country.  

ROUND TABLE ON VIEWS ON COMPETITIVENESS AND PROSPERITY ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

Friday 8^th, 1 session