Wisdom and illusions of regional analysis

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present some particularities of the regional studies, usually underestimated by people who work in this area. First of all, we try to show how much the type and level of regional division adopted can influence (and, eventually, distort) the results of any analysis. After that, we try to show how misleading may be the acritical use of economic tools and measures, developed and attached to national analysis, in regional studies. Finally, we try to show how misleading may be the acritical acceptance of political and institutional criterions of territorial division (municipalities, states, etc.) in scientifical regional research. Once there isn’t any natural or universal rule determining the creation (and destruction) of municipalities (or any other political divisions of a territory), the diversity of those institutional structures usually biases the results of regional data and research.