Breaking path dependency? Factors to enhance capacity for rural local governments in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Joshua Barrett

Community Development, 2025, vol. 56, issue 4, 469-484

Abstract: Path dependency, often coinciding with the downloading of various responsibilities with reduced funding from higher levels of governments during the neoliberal era, has led to capacity challenges for rural local governments to pursue sector diversification activities. Despite these challenges, research has indicated that, through entrepreneurial efforts, breaking path dependency is possible. Drawing from Staples Theory, Evolutionary Economic Geography, New Public Management, and New Localism as well as primary data from key informant interviews, this paper identifies five factors that influence the capacity of rural local governments to break path dependency. In doing so, it identifies a relationship between New Localism and local governments, and its potential as a bridge for rural economic development. These findings are important, as they contribute to the limited but growing literature related to New Localism and its potential applications for rural local governments in Canada to facilitate economic development.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15575330.2024.2382183 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:comdev:v:56:y:2025:i:4:p:469-484

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RCOD20

DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2024.2382183

Access Statistics for this article

Community Development is currently edited by John Green, Rhonda Phillips and Anne Heinze Silvis

More articles in Community Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().