The Effect of Regional Investment Incentives on Company Decisions

The Standard Capital Grant in Northern Ireland, 1954–1988

“…The rapid growth of manufacturing capital stocks in the peripheral regions has been analysed in HARRIS, 1983, and REES and MIALL, 1979. Survey evidence has also shown that firms take capital grants into account when discounting the present value of future capital projects, and this leads to higher levels of expenditure than would otherwise have occurred (BEGG and 344 R. I. D. Harris MCDOWELL, 1987). Decisions on where to relocate when expanding operations are heavily influenced by the availability of automatic capital grants that do not require a firm to create new employment (see, for example, HERRON, 1981).…”

Industrial incentives: competition among American states and cities

“…The main reason for the non-inclusion of [the discretionary] RSA [as opposed to the automatic RDG] was uncertainty over both whether an award would be made and also the size of the award" (Swales 1989). For a review of this literature, see Begg and McDowall (1987); see also Alien et al (1986). There have been contrary findings (McGreevy and Thomson 1983).…”

Business Enterprise in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland

“…Thus, for instance, McGreevy and Thomson (1983) and Allen et al (1986) focused on the role of incentives in influencing the business decisions. A summary of this work can be found in Begg and McDowall (1987). Recently there has been renewed interest in evaluating the effects of industrial support measures in both the United States and the United Kingdom.…”