The XXI century has reached the end of its first 20 years. Along the years, it has posed complex challenges to economists and economic geographers. For example, the results of elections and consultations in different countries have shown a strong sympathy with political positions that question the benefits of free international flows of goods, services, labour and capital. By the same token, some academics argue that despite international economics theory clearly acknowledges that free trade causes winners and losers, the expected higher gains have not been effectively used to compensate the losers. This article explores the main challenges of international economic integration in sub-national territories in Switzerland and Mexico to better understand the importance of delivering relevant and competent public policies based on territorial specificity.
AscaniACrescenziRIammarinoS (2012) New Economic Geography and Economic Integration: A Review. SEARCH Project Working Paper WP1/02. Luxembourg:The European Commission Publications Office.
2.
AspeP (1993) Economic Transformation: The Mexican Way. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3.
AudretschBD (2015) The strategic management of place. In: AudretschBDLinkANWalshokML (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness. New York: Oxford University Press, 13–33.
4.
AudretschBDLinkANWalshokML (eds). (2015) The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness. New York: Oxford University Press.
5.
Banco de México (2018) Las zonas económicas especiales de México. In: Reporte sobre las Economías Regionales Enero-Marzo 2018, June. Mexico City: Banxico, 33–39.
6.
BarcaFMacCannPRodríguez-PoseA (2012) The case for regional development intervention: place-based versus place-neutral approaches. Journal of Regional Science52(1): 134–152.
7.
BergmannHBaumgartnerD (2010) Entrepreneurship in urban and rural Switzerland: similar or worlds apart? In: SmallboneDLeitaoJRaposoM, et al. (eds). The Theory and Practice of Entrepreneurship.Massachusetts: Edward Elgar, 287–311.
8.
BielaJHennlAKaiserA (2012) Combining federalism and decentralisation: comparative case studies on regional development policies in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, and Ireland. Comparative Political Studies45(4): 447–476.
9.
BosworthGPriceLCollisonM, et al. (2020) Unequal futures of rural mobility: challenges for a “smart countryside”. Local Economy35(6): 586–608.
10.
BürginRMayerH (2020) Digital periphery? a community case study of digitalization efforts in Swiss mountain regions. In: PatnaikSSenSMahmoudM (eds). Smart Village Technology. Modeling and Optimization in Science and Technologies. Cham: Springer, 67–98.
11.
Centre for International Development (2013–2021) Atlas of economic complexity. Available at:https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/ (accessed 20 June 2020).
12.
Centre for International Development, Mexican Finance Ministry and CIDE (2015–2021) Atlas de complejidad Económica de México (Atlas of Mexico’s economic complexity). Available at:https://datos.gob.mx/complejidad/ (accessed 20 June 2020).
13.
ChampionTTownsendA (2020) Core cities’ strong growth in the 2010s: were they ‘leaving behind’ the rest of their regions?Local Economy35(6): 566–585.
14.
CheongD (2010) Methods of ex-post economic evaluation of free trade agreements. Asian Development Bank Working Paper Series, No. 59. Philippines: Asian Development Bank.
Cornell University, INSEAD, and World Intelectual Property Organisation (2020) The Global Innovation Index 2020: Who Will Finance Innovation?Geneve: WIPO Publications.
17.
CrescenziRGiuaM (2016) The EU cohesion policy in context: does a bottom-up approach work in all regions?Environment and Planning A48(11): 2340–2357.
18.
DebelaKW (2020) Local governance in Switzerland: adequate municipal autonomy cumintergovernmental cooperation?Cogent Social Sciences6(1): 1763889. DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2020.1763889.
19.
DickenP (2015) Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy. New York: The Guilford Press.
20.
European Spatial Planning Observation Network (2020) Territorial Patterns and Relations in Switzerland. Luxembourg: ESPON, European Grouping on Territorial Cooperation.
21.
FinotI (2001) Descentralización en América Latina: teoría y política. CEPAL Serie Gestión Pública No.12. Santiago de Chile: Naciones Unidas.
22.
ForayDMacCannPOrtega-ArgilésR (2015) Smart specialisation and European regional development policy. In: AudretschBDLinkANWalshokML (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Local Competitiveness. New York: Oxford University Press, 458–480.
23.
FrickSARodríguez-PoseAWongMD (2019) Toward economically dynamic special economic zones in emerging countries. Economic Geography95(1): 30–64.
24.
HansonGH (1996) Localisation economies, vertical organisation and trade. American Economic Review86(5): 1266–1278.
25.
HarrisJSunleyPEvenhuisE, et al. (2020) The Covid-19 crisis and manufacturing: how should national and local industrial strategies respond?Local Economy35(4): 403–415.
26.
HausmannRHidalgoCABustosS, et al. (2011) The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity. Centre for International Development at Harvard University. Available at:http://www.tinyurl.com/lf8y4uw.
27.
HeatherK (2004) Economics: Theory in Action. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
28.
Hernández-LiconaGDe la GarzaTZamudioJ, et al. (2019). El Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera, a 20 años de su creación. Mexico City: CONEVAL.
29.
HirteGLessmannCSeidelA (2020) International trade, geographic heterogeneity and interregional inequality. European Economic Review, 127: 103427. DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2020.103427.
30.
IammarinoSRodríguez-PoseAStorperM (2017) Why regional development matters for Europe’s economic future. Working Papers of the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, WP07/2017. Brussels: European Commission.
31.
JohnstonAWellsP (2020) Assessing the role of universities in a place-based industrial strategy: evidence from the UK. Local Economy35(4): 384–402.
32.
KatzI (1998) La apertura comercial y su impacto regional sobre la economía mexicana. Ciudad de México: PARMEC-ITAM.
33.
KazumotoA (2007) Assessing the Economic Impacts of Free Trade Agreements: A Computable Equilibrium Model Approach. Discussion Paper Series 07-E053. Tokyo: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry.
34.
KrugmanPObstfeldM (1999) Economía Internacional: Teoría y Política. Madrid: McGraw-Hill Interamericana de España.
35.
KrugmanPObstfeldMMelitzMJ (2012) International Economics: Theory & Policy. Boston: Pearson Addison-Wesley.
36.
KulonenAAdlerCBracherC, et al. (2019) Spatial context matters for monitoring and reporting on sustainable development goals. reflections based on research in mountain regions. GAIA Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society28(2): 90–94.
37.
LoweNVinodraiT (2020) The maker-manufacturing nexus as a place-connecting strategy: implications for regions ‘left behind’. Economic Geography96(4): 315–335.
38.
MeiliRMayerH (2017) Small and medium-sized towns in Switzerland: economic heterogeneity, socio-economic performance and linkages. Erdkunde71(4): 313–332.
39.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2019a). OECD Regional Outlook 2019: Leveraging Megatrends for Cities and Rural Areas. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Palavicini-CoronaEI (2012) Local Economic Development in Mexico: The Contribution of the Bottom-Up Approach. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
42.
ParkerSW (2019). La evaluación de progresa-oportunidades-prospera: logros después de veinte años y retos para el futuro. In: Hernández-LiconaGDe la GarzaTZamudioJ, et al. (eds). El Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera, a 20 años de su Creación. Mexico City: CONEVAL, 338–360.
43.
PikeARodríguez-PoseATomaneyJ (2017) Local and Regional Development. New York: Routledge.
44.
PorterM (2008) On Competition. Boston: Harvard Business Review.
45.
RodrikD (2018) Populism and the economics of globalisation. Journal of International Business Policy1(1–2): 12–33.
46.
Rodríguez‐PoseA (2012) Trade and regional inequality. Experimental Gerontology88(2): 109–136.
47.
Rodríguez-PoseA (2018) The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society11(1): 189–209.
48.
Rodríguez-PoseAPalavicini-CoronaEI. (2013) Does local economic development really work? assesing LED across Mexican municipalities. Geoforum44: 303–315.
49.
SEDESOL (2001). Reglas de Operación del Programa de Educación, Salud y Alimentación. Mexico City: PROGRESA.
50.
SEDESOL (2003). Reglas de operación del programa microrregiones. Mexico City: Diario Oficial de la Federación.
51.
StevensCIrfanIMassaI, et al. (2015) The Impact of Free Trade Agreements between Developed and Developing Countries on Economic Development in Developing Countries: A Rapid Evidence Assessment. London: Overseas Development Institute.
52.
StiglitzJE (2015) The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do about Them. London: Penguin Random House.
53.
StucksmithM (2009) Disintegrated rural development? Neo-endogenous rural development, planning and place-shaping in diffused power contexts. Sociologia Ruralis50(1): 1–14.
54.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (2020) Regional portraits and key figures. Available at:www.bfs.admin.ch (accessed 7 December 2020).
55.
Swiss Regional Development Online Platform (2020) Policies and programmes section. Available at:https://regiosuisse.ch (accessed 10 November 2020).
56.
SwarnaliAH (2016) The impact of trade agreements: new approach, new insights. IMF Working Papers, No. 16/117.
57.
SwinburnGGogaSMurphyF (2006) Local Economic Development: A Primer Developing and Implementing Local Economic Development Strategies and Action Plans. Washington: The World Bank Group.
Vázquez-BarqueroA (2012) Local development: a response to the economic crisis. Lessons from Latin America. In: PikeARodriguez-PoseATomaneyJ (eds). Handbook of Local and Regional Development. London: Routledge, 506–514.
62.
Vázquez-BarqueroARodríguez-CohardJC (2016) Endogenous development and institutions: challenges for local development initiatives. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy34(6): 1135–1153.
63.
World Bank (n.d.) World integrated trade solution. Available at:https://wits.worldbank.org (accessed 20 June 2020).
64.
World Economic Forum (2019) The Global Competitiveness Report 2019. Geneva: WEF.
65.
YaschineI (2019) Progresa-oportunidades-prospera, veinte años de historia. In: Hernández-LiconaGDe la GarzaTZamudioJ, et al. (eds). El Progresa-Oportunidades-Prospera, a 20 años de su creación. Mexico City: CONEVAL, 31–65.
