COOPERATION AND COMPETITION AMONG CENTERS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (CEDS)

An increasing number of Centers for Economic Development is emerging in different countries of European Union. Their main goal is to stimulate Economic Cross border Cooperation. The consequences of this raising number of CEDs are little understood: does the agglomeration stimulate cooperation, or does it lead to a competition between CEDs? We use a game simulation as a research method as it offers a successful way of performing policy research. The main finding of the 'CED game' is that with agglomeration, the willingness to cooperate decreases. Furthermore we discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of such game simulation as a tool for policy research. This article suggests that game simulations can be an interesting tool for policy research, but since this method also has its disadvantages a combination of various research methods will contribute to better results.