Regionalism and employer groups in Spain, Italy, and the UK

© 2014 Regional Studies Association. This article presents empirical findings on 27 regional business associations in Spain, Italy, and the UK. We focus on three issues: opinions towards the regions, internal devolution, and business representation. The article draws theoretically upon studies in the fields of industrial sociology, political science, and economic geography. All three disciplines have documented a certain regionalisation of state-wide (or peak national) business associations, and attest that the regions can generate genuine practices of interest formation and interest intermediation. This article confirms the emergence of business associations in almost all of the regions, although there are considerable variations in their preferences, their organisational models, and the way they participate in the political process.