Economic development policy in jurisdictionally fragmented metropolitan areas is often characterized as a competitive environment in which local governments compete for jobs and growth. However, the positive and negative intergovernmental externalities from growth create demands for more integrated development approaches that can address economies of scale, urban sprawl, income inequality, environmental impacts, and other regional issues. This dissertation examines the formation of regional economic development partnerships among local government to explain patterns of local government cooperation in pursuing economic development. The traditional game theoretic approach, based on assumptions that actors are motivated by rational calculation of benefits and costs, provides useful insights for understanding the essence of the collective action problem, but it provides only a limited and incomplete explanation for the emergence and sustainability of regional development collaboration. This dissertation investigates how the social context in which a game is embedded can determine which game the actors are supposed to play and, therefore, shapes the action of players. In other words, social structures should be considered to be both the medium and the outcome of the players' activities. A formal model of regional partnership formation is developed, taking into account actors' attributes and social relations. Propositions regarding how contextual and relational factors affect regional partnership formation are derived from this model and empirically tested. / A Dissertation submitted to the Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public Administration and Policy in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2009. / December 8, 2008. / Regional Governance, Social Network Theory, Regional Partnership, Game Theory, Collective Action / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard C. Feiock, Professor Directing Dissertation; John T. Scholz, Outside Committee Member; Keifeng Yang, Committee Member; Keon-Hyung Lee, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_254151 |
| Contributors | Lee, In Won (authoraut), Feiock, Richard C. (professor directing dissertation), Scholz, John T. (outside committee member), Yang, Keifeng (committee member), Lee, Keon-Hyung (committee member), School of Public Administration and Policy (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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