Development Opportunities vs Development Outcomes. Towards a Typology of Peripheral Local Communities
Image credit: Organizers of the conference
Authors: Mihail Eva, Alexandra Cehan, Ionel Muntele
Presenter: Mihail Eva
Abstract
This presentation delivers a set of preliminary results from a research project aiming at
assessing local development from a novel perspective, that integrates both the World Bank
view highly focused on connectivity and growth, and the United Nations’ view inspired by Sen’s
capability theory. The research first builds a new multi-dimensional and multi-scalar methodological
approach and then employs it for the assessment and mapping of local development for 3181 communities
from Romania. Secondly, it statistically explores the interplay between territorial opportunities for
development and development outcomes, and then delivers a typology of peripheral local communities that
compares development outcomes to development opportunities. Results highlight not only the degree of
association between contextual drivers of local development and development outcomes, but also unveil
those communities where other factors (including agency and local governance networks) managed to
overcome territorial constraints and historical legacy or, on the contrary, failed to take advantage
of their location in opportunity-rich territories.
