Ferran, C., & Ferran, B. (2008). El Análisis Regional Frente al Avance Tecnológico y la Redistribución Espacial de Actividades Económicas. Revista BCV XXII(1), 137-162.

Abstract

This article shows how fast technological change has impacted the distribution of economic activities across regions of a country, the new tasks that regional analysts face, and the need to revise the tools that are used in these analyses. The increasing volume and size of transactions between regions, the changes on the division of labor, subcontracting, and the surge of clusters and nets require units of analysis capable of taking into account these flows which cross the traditional regional borders; particularly in the case of Venezuela that has a very influential oil industry that increases even more the regionalization of its economy. The acceleration of technical, economical, and social change is creating a need for new orientations of the regional science and increasing its role in regional and national policy which in turn has created a notable surge of university courses on the subject. Included is a brief review of former studies that helps us understand how this was handled in the past and some current recommendations by international organizations on the subject.