The Korea Local Administration Review

Successive governments have fostered specialized industries centered on knowledge-based industries as economic growth policies for non-metropolitan areas. This study analyzes the effectiveness of economic growth policies in non-metropolitan areas through a comparative analysis of 80 statutory depopulated areas and 34 surrounding basic local governments. To this end, we analyzed the relationship between statutory depopulation areas and regional economic growth, the relationship between the level of creative capital and regional economic growth, and the moderating effect of creative capital. The results showed that the presence of statutory depopulation areas had an impact on regional economic growth, and the level of creative capital had a positive impact on regional economic growth. In addition, the results showed that the level of creative capital moderated the effect of statutory depopulation on regional economic growth. In other words, even in statutory depopulation areas, creative capital was a positive factor for regional economic growth. Therefore, for regional economic growth in non-metropolitan areas, including statutory depopulation areas, it is necessary to activate local creative capital, and for this purpose, it is necessary to create a long-term Value-chain Nest.