Opportunities and Challenges for Development

OECD regions show diverse economic performance and income. Despite the OECD groups 30 of the most developed economies in the world, regional performance and development is far from homogenous. An analysis of the 324 TL2 regions in the OECD reveals that there are at least 4 types of regions based on their performance.1 The first type that can be identified is the rich and performing group of regions among which DC, Delaware, Wyoming or California in the USA, Luxembourg, Bolzano-Bozen and Emilia-Romagna in Italy, or the Northwest Territories or Newfoundland in Canada which not only have incomes above the OECD average but also outstrip the mean in terms of growth (See quadrant 1 in Figure 1.1). The second group is comprised by rich but underperforming regions among which Brussels in Belgium, Hamburg and Bremen in Germany, Vienna in Austria, Alaska in the USA or Alberta in Canada which have an above- OECD-average income but have been growing slower than the OECD average (See quadrant II in Figure 1.1). The third type can be described as lagging and underperforming regions which not only have below-OECDaverage incomes, but also have been growing slowly such as Okinawa in Japan, Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, Berlin in Germany or Severovychod in the Czech Republic (see quadrant III in Figure 1.1). The fourth group are lagging regions that have been dynamic and in many cases the fastest growing regions in the OECD such as Bratislava in the Slovak Republic, Kosep-Magyarorszag in Hungary, the Border-Midlands-West and Southern and East regions in Ireland, Zonguldak in Turkey, or Yucatán in Mexico (see quadrant IV in Figure 1.1).