The Hodge Project's International Symposium: Institutions Needed for Economic Development

The Hodge Project organised an international Symposium at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport from April 9^th -11^th, 2018. The symposium was a follow up to a similar one held at Portmeirion, in north Wales in 2015.

A number of distinguished UK and international academics joined the discussion in Newport, and Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance; together with Sir Emyr Parry Jones, the president of the Learned Society of Wales; and Professor Sushila Chang, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff Metropolitan University addressed and welcomed the participants.

A total of nine papers were presented that discussed the role of institutions in encouraging economic development; where and how they could be improved; and where it might be necessary to create new ones.

Common themes that emerged from the discussion included the value of local leadership and the importance of place-based approaches to economic development, and how these can be translated into practical policy actions. The importance of identity as a motivating force in economic development and decision making also featured strongly, whilst a challenge to current assumptions of economic development was the focus of a discussion about the motivation and articulation of the concept of wellbeing.

A selection of the papers presented has been published in Volume 26 of the Welsh Economic Review (https://wer.cardiffuniversitypress.org/) while a summary of the papers presented and the symposium agenda can be found here Symposium Summary and Agenda 2018

Each presentation was also filmed and are available in edited form from the following links.

1. John Tomaney: Brexit, devolution and economic development in England. https://youtu.be/wJWXCO8AwKU
2. John Kay: The ambiguous boundary between public and private activity.https://youtu.be/qlhD9AFcva4
3. Claude Menard: Theoretical developments in the organisation of public bodies. https://youtu.be/q_RkqOCAYaU
4. Chris Warhurst et al (Part 1): Improving education and training – from analysis to delivery. https://youtu.be/PEkLMeF4tO0
5. Ken Mayhew et al (Part 2): Improving education and training – from analysis to delivery. https://youtu.be/6cCZKRkf8g4
6. Geraint Johnes: Planning vs Competition in Education – outcomes and efficiency.https://youtu.be/pBMZiKTMDsM
7. Ricardo Hausmann: The Sense of US, Public Goods and The State.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdrnguOKPbA
8. Karel Williams: Foundational Economy and Foundational Politics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aocuhEeQCNU
9. Fabrizio Barca: A Policy Approach to Rural-Urban Divide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDxgZAA8tsg