ABSTRACT
The notion that some economic activities function as ‘motors’ of local economic development whilst others do not derives from economic (or export) base theory (Glickman 1977, Haggett et al. 1977, Wilson 1974). To reiterate, grounded in the assumption that an economy needs to earn external income in order to grow, this theory divides any economy into two sectors: ‘basic’ activities, which generate external income and are seen as the ‘motor’ of economic development; and ‘dependent’ activities, which merely circulate income within localities and are perceived as ‘residual’ or ‘parasitic’ activities contributing little, if anything, to the economy.1
