This paper demonstrates the necessity of considering wider politicaleconomic circumstances when seeking to understand the institutional and governance arrangements in a particular locality. The paper analyses the case of Liverpool, UK, from the perspective of regulation theory and concludes that national government initiatives have permeated local governance arrangements in Liverpool in both direct and indirect ways over the past 35 years. These outcomes reflect a wider approach to the regulation of the economy by the national government. The paper also notes the importance of considering path-dependence in a locality, as well as its wider political-economic context, when undertaking such an analysis of governance arrangements.
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