A different approach to local development

When Laurent Davezies, professor at Paris XII University, takes a different approach to the idea of regional development, traditional ideas go out of the window. The rift between Paris and the provinces is a myth. Indicators show that regional GDP is merely a smokescreen and that it is income which is relevant. Non-skilled jobs are gaining acceptance again; the productive economy is moving away from a static economy; the more developed regions are the poorest; the urbanisation of the economy is still increasing; and the traditional theory at the base of it all is returning to centre-stage. Updating the mistakes of some current approaches, especially European ones, Laurent Davezies has proof that local economies are tied to a complex, global system. Only a small part of the wealth comes from surrounding industries, since a fantastic redistribution system, devised in the time of Louis XI, creates incomes and jobs surreptitiously in places where they would not occur according to classic development theories.