Dear Colleagues,

In the age of globalization, all types of regions must be competitive in the global markets of goods and services and be attractive for firms, investments, workers, talented people, and other relevant factors for regional economic development (Capello et al., 2011; Capello and Dentinho, 2012; Fratesi and Senn, 2009; Freeman, 2006).

Competitiveness and attractiveness for highly peripheral and marginal regions are even harder to achieve. The nature of marginal and peripheral locations causes them obvious competitive and locational disadvantages compared to central locations; geographical location, transport accessibility, and agglomeration effects are some of the basic aspects that are normally lacking in these types of regions. Their peripherality can even affect intangible assets, such as their image (Dax, 2020; Musolino and Silvetti, 2020; Musolino, 2018), knowledge spillovers, and network effects (Pagliacci et al., 2020). This is also a reason why they need government to take an important leading role by making relevant investments (for example in transport infrastructure) and supporting firms and foreign investments to bridge the gap in terms of competitive disadvantages.

These types of regions usually compete and attract investments in a few specific sectors, such as raw materials, agriculture, energy, and tourism. However, due to the technological and socio-cultural changes occurring at the global scale, which determine the growth of new sectors, products, and services, and the relocation of new types of firms and people (ICTs and smart working; aging; nutritional habits and the agri-food sector; renewable energies; green tourism, multifunctional agriculture, and social farming; etc.), there is apparently space for new diversified businesses and new development opportunities from outer areas for these regions (see, for example, Bosworth and Atterton, 2012, and Dax, 2020, concerning the importance of exogenous factors for rural and mountain development). They can also potentially exploit advantages that so far are neither useful nor known (“hidden” advantages).

Moreover, as economic geography is not a static, invariant issue over time, it cannot be said that their current geographical status (peripheral and marginal regions) will remain the same; geopolitical changes and the emergence of new, strong economic and political world regions and countries might affect their centrality/peripherality. Lastly, even catastrophic events and natural disasters, such as in the case of the pandemic, can change the tide of the development path of peripheral and marginal regions in a direction of either growth or decline.

This Special Issue will focus on the aspects concerning the socio-economic development of highly peripheral and marginal regions. Therefore, it especially aims to collect contributions on the following topics:

• New sectors, new businesses, and new types of firms that are developing (or which have potential to) in these regions;
• New categories of people (entrepreneurs, professionals, elderly people, farmers, etc.) who have actually, and potentially, been attracted to these regions in recent times;
• Effective and potential competitive and locational economic advantages of these regions, given the changes occurring at the global scale;
• The role of public institutions and policies, at the local and national scale, for the development of these regions;
• The perception, or the image, of these regions and how it affects the attractiveness and competitiveness of these regions (peripheral and marginal regions in the mental maps of people);
• The role of technological changes in creating or strengthening the potential sources of competitiveness and attractiveness for these regions;
• The role of catastrophic events and natural disasters, starting with the effects of the pandemic.

This Special Issue will aim to maintain a wide multidisciplinary approach, take diverse methodological perspectives into consideration, and include not only quantitative but also qualitative (case studies, interviews, group research, etc.) and mixed methodological approaches.

Dr. Dario Musolino
Dr. Mariotti Ilaria
Dr. Rodrigo Kataishi
Dr. Mina Akhavan
Guest Editors

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• remoteness
• mountain regions
• islands
• rural entrepreneurship
• rural development
• locational preferences of entrepreneurs
• firm location