ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1980s, globalization of markets and technologies has intensified significantly along with the establishment or deepening of various international regimes promoting economic integration at the multilateral or regional level. In reaction to those developments sub-state actors – and especially sub-state governments – within federal countries have redefined their role in a globalized economy responding to three emerging challenges. First, since regional or multilateral trade agreements set various standards that concern subnational policies, they have called for new procedures of vertical policy coordination in order to participate in measures taken at the national level that ensure compliance with those trade agreements. Second, since economic integration tends to generate both opportunities and problems, especially for border states, local and regional authorities have intensified trans-border cooperation with neighboring regions or cities in foreign countries. And third, since regional or even local patterns of economic specialization gain importance in a globalized economy, subnational actors embarked on various strategies aimed at attracting globalized resources such as investments, knowledge, or skilled personnel. As a result, subnational governments are today considerably more involved both in intergovernmental relations within their federations and in international arenas.
