Main Results of Project Phase I (October 2003 - May 2004)
May 2004
This report contains the first results of a research carried out on the influence of location factors on regional growth. The analysis of growth factors is an additional tool that extends the philosophy of benchmarking. Both can be used as a tool in the development of policy strategies for sustainable economic growth. An advantage of the combination of growth factor analysis and benchmarking based on the same data is that regional decision makers can use the same measures of location factors – or specific combinations of location factors – identified in the empirical analysis when analysing the position of their region and possible shortcomings using the benchmarking tools. The first phase of the research project was funded by the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the Zurich Kantonalbank (ZKB). The next phase of the project is being planned as well as its funding.
