The thesis analyses the strategies of local development and employment creation in the framework of the European Union in the period of expansion prior to the economic crisis of 2008 (and within the period of development of local development policies and initiatives in the European context). The approach allows to deepen in the local development and employment policies and strategies of two territories located in the province of Barcelona (Manresa/Bages and Sant Feliu de Llobregat/Baix Llobregat).The research focuses on contrasting the predominant theoretical models of local development with the models applied in the selected territories, taking into account the configuration of those territories, the governance mechanisms and the position that employment has in these models. Therefore the thesis asks about the translation of these two theoretical models (social-sustainable model vs economic-competitive model) to the selected territories, the factors that characterize their local development and how they are articulated. The methodology used follows a qualitative strategy based on conducting interviews with key actors in each territory as main data collection method: local administration (municipal and regional), social partners and other key actors in each territory.
Author/a: Juan RodrÃguez Soler
Supervisor: Fausto Miguélez i Joan Miquel Verd
Date of thesis defense: 15/02/2019
