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38: 280 Economic Geography

Unit I

Introduction to the Discipline of Economic Geography

Introduction to the Discipline of Economic Geography

1.1 Geography: Where does Economic Geography fit? 1.2 Evolution of the Discipline 1.3 An Institutional Approach 1.4 Sub-fields within Economic Geography

(objects of the discipline)

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1.1 Geography: Where does Economic Geography fit?

In relation to the basic orientations of geography: human vs. physical, systematic vs. regional Economic Geography is concerned with

the spatial organization and distribution of economic activity Complements Economics Core is “Location Theory”

The Core of the Discipline: Location Theory

The search for basic, universal factors that determine (or influence), and therefore explain, the location of economic activity. Variations in location and spatial distribution

of economic activities Geographic differences in economic functions

and well-being of places Connections among economic activities across

space

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1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

Commercial Geography: George Chisholm (1880s) Handbook of Commercial Geography

Key theme – inventory (descriptive)

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1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

Environmental Determinism: Ellen Churchill Semple (1911) The Influence of the Geographic Environment, and Ellsworth Huntington (1915) Civilization and Climate

Key theme – physical environment

1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

Areal Differentiation: Richard Hartshorne (1939) The Nature of Geography

Key theme – regions, difference

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1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

Post-1950s – Conceptual Pluralism (aka Eclectic)a) Quantitative Revolutionb) Rejection of Empiricism/Determinism

i) Phenomenologyii) Post-modernismiii) Radical Geographyiv) Behavioural Geography

1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

Post-Modernist critique:“Whereas modernism is paradigmatic, universalistic, purposive, hierarchical, synthetic, selective, and concerned with master codes and meta-narratives, post-modernism is syntagmatic, playful, anarchical, antithetical, combinatorial, idealectical, localistic, and anti-narrative”

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1.2 Evolution of the Discipline

More recently, the ‘New Industrial Geography’

-focuses on crisis and restructuring of advanced capitalist societies

-new objects of inquiry – e.g. institutions and regulations

-rooted in ‘evolutionary economics’-considers ‘path dependence’

What approach would you take, as an economic geographer, to explain this?

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…or this (McDonald’s inBeijing)?

1.3 An Institutional Approach

Challenging ‘orthodox neoclassical’ approacha) assumptionsb) equilibrium / stabilityc) completeness

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1.3 An Institutional Approach3 key domains:

a) marketsb) institutionsc) technology

…which interact, conditioned by 3 principles:a) embeddednessb) differentiationc) evolution

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1.3 An Institutional ApproachInstitutions:“formal and informal structures, routines,

conventions, and customs that organize all human relationships” (p. 2)

“…that determine the rules of the game in a particular place” (p. 6)

“…habits of thought, and how conventions, routines, and rules of the game shape social behaviour” (p. 8)

1.3 An Institutional ApproachInstitutions cont’d:“…[operate] at different levels or in

different domains, from society as a whole to segments of society … or movements … to individual organizations” (p.11)

“defined by habitual, durable, and distinctive behaviour” (p. 11)

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1.3 An Institutional ApproachInstitutions cont’d:“institutions serve two contrasting

functions: to constrain behaviour and to facilitate change towards new routines” (p. 11)

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1.3 An Institutional ApproachTechnology:-‘hardware’ and ‘software’-“the systematic application of scientific or

other organized knowledge to practical tasks” (Galbraith, p. 11)

-normally increases productivity, therefore enabling economic growth and/or development

1.3 An Institutional Approach

A few more concepts:-Place and space-Local - global-Value chains

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1.4 Sub-fields / Objects of the Discipline

- Primary- Secondary- Tertiary- Quaternary- Transportation and Communication- Government- Consumption- … plus non-profits, interest groups, etc.