Perceptions, relations and regional economic development: A case study of the Bay Area and Southern California

This dissertation investigates the scope and historical origins of the institutional contexts behind the income divergence of the Bay Area and Southern California between 1980 and 2010. It is widely recognized in the literature that the `secret' to the Bay Area's extraordinary economic performance in recent decades lies in the region's institutional structure. This dissertation begins by substantiating this claim by showing that theoretically-derived major income growth-related characteristics cannot explain the extent of the divergence. The research proceeds to explore the scope of the region's transposition-enabling socio-relational context and its historical origins. Findings reveal that such an institutional context is evident at the scope of the Bay Area's high-end corporate social structure, characterized by cross-realm relations and widely-shared perceptions; and at the scope of society at large evident by the degree of generalized trust and the size of the civic sphere. By exploring the history of the civic and political/cross-jurisdictional spheres over the course of the 20th Century evidence is presented in support of an institutional `regional effect' upon the industrial development and consequent income trajectories of these two regions.