Developing indicators to inform local economic development in England

Based on a conceptual framework of 11 factors that are widely perceived to be the major determinants of local economic development (LED), 29 indicators were identified to measure these factors. Principal component analysis was first used to examine the structure of relationships among the compiled LED indicators for local authority districts in England and to explore the spatial patterns that emerge from the analysis. A series of multiple regression models were then calibrated to investigate the relative strenghts of relationship between the LED indicators and various performance variables. The final section concludes with the key issues revealed by the findings of these multivariate analyses.