Economic geography
Encyclopedia
Economic geography is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the world. The subject matter investigated is strongly influenced by the researcher's methodological approach. Neoclassical location theorists
, following in the tradition of Alfred Weber
, tend to focus on industrial location and use quantitative methods. Since the 1970s, two broad reactions against neoclassical approaches have significantly changed the discipline: Marxist political economy, growing out of the work of David Harvey; and the new economic geography which takes into account social, cultural, and institutional factors in the spatial economy.
Economic geography is usually regarded as a subfield of the discipline of geography
, although recently economists such as Paul Krugman
and Jeffrey Sachs
have pursued interests that can be considered part of economic geography. Krugman has gone so far as to call his application of spatial thinking to international trade theory the "new economic geography", which directly competes with an approach within the discipline of geography that is also called "new economic geography". The name geographical economics has been suggested as an alternative.
Given the variety of approaches, economic geography has taken to many different subject matters, including: the location of industries, economies of agglomeration
(also known as "linkages"), transportation
, international trade and development, real estate, gentrification, ethnic economies, gendered economies, core-periphery
theory, the economics of urban form, the relationship between the environment and the economy (tying into a long history of geographers studying culture-environment interaction), and globalization
. This list is by no means exhaustive.
Economic geography is a regional system of human economic activity to central to a discipline , It is an important anthropogeography branch disciplines , Include economic activities of position, space combination types and developing process, etc. To production as the main body of the human economic activities , Include production, exchange, distribution and consumption of the whole process, is by the material flow, commodity flow, population flow and information flow the rural and urban residential areas, transportation site, commercial service facilities and finance and other economic center link together and consisting of a economic activity system . This series of economic activities are in specific areas, therefore, with the regional for unit research world, regional economic activities of the system and its developmental process, and become the economic geography research the special field .
However, their areas of study may overlap with other geographical sciences
or may be considered on their own.
and geographical sciences
.
First traces of the study of spatial aspects of economic activities can be found in seven Chinese maps of the State of Qin
dating to the 4th century BC. Ancient writings can be attributed to the Greek geographer Strabo
's Geographika compiled almost 2000 years ago. As the science of cartography
developed, geographers illuminated many aspects used today in the field; maps created by different European powers described the resources likely to be found in American, African, and Asian territories. The earliest travel journals included descriptions of the native peoples, the climate, the landscape, and the productivity of various locations. These early accounts encouraged the development of transcontinental trade patterns and ushered in the era of mercantilism
.
During the period known in geography as environmental determinism
notable (though later much criticized) influence came from Ellsworth Huntington
and his theory of climatic determinism.
Valuable contributions came from location theorists such as Johann Heinrich von Thünen
or Alfred Weber
. Other influential theories were Walter Christaller
's Central place theory
, the theory of core and periphery.
Fred K. Schaefer
's article Exceptionalism in geography: A Methodological Examination published in American journal Annals (Association of American Geographers) and his critique of regionalism had a big impact on economic geography. The article became a rallying point for the younger generation of economic geographers who were intent on reinventing the discipline as a science. Quantitative methods became prevailing in research. Well-known economic geographers of this period are William Garrison
, Brian Berry
, Waldo Tobler, Peter Haggett
, William Bunge
and others.
Contemporary economic geographers tend to specialize in areas such as location theory
and spatial analysis
(with the help of geographic information systems), market research, geography of transportation, land or real estate price evaluation, regional and global development, planning, Internet geography, innovation, social networks and others.
Economic geography in China
China's economic geography development through the comparison of unique way. Besides developing stage, institutional environment and traditional culture, ideology, from such factors as the European and American countries and the former Soviet union's academic thoughts of alternating input also affecting China's economic geography development process. Generally speaking, after the founding of our country economic geography development can be used "to task with discipline" to summarize, namely: the development of the discipline of primary target and driving force is to satisfy the demand of the country, at the same time in the practice task promoted disciplinary theoretical development and construction. This directly facing the government demand for research work to make economic geography to the national economic construction has made important contributions, also make economic geography in government departments at all levels are widely recognized. Is it the European and American countries economic geography is deficits. However, it is also nature of work makes our economic geography of pure theoretical research relatively weak. Meanwhile, the system changes are separated the discipline theory process of accumulation, Part of the planned economy period, the theory and knowledge accumulated to a certain extent, lost utility. This only shows that China's economic geography is in the theory of institutional reform period reconstruction phase and can't be think this subject lack of theoretical basis
Economic geography in Chinese history:
China from the 1920s began receiving western economic geography, mainly through Europe and America to Europe and America send scholars lecturing and students. Until the late 1940s, in more than 10 universities in systematically teach geography, in which economic geography British staples, as a representative of the statistical records school effect is extensive. This period, China's economic geography work is mainly about the population distribution, land use and agricultural division, border prospecting and regional and inspection.
The second world war to the popularization of geographical knowledge plays a significant positive effect. The post-war world economic recovery and development, promote the development of economic geography. Before the second world war, economic geography in psychological therewithal are distributed theory, the key is to study of regional variations in the post-war entered location theory and landscape type research studies of the modern period.
Since 1960s, the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, electronic computers are applied promotion, social productive forces powerful and new technology applications, and most countries in the world the improvement of people's living standard, the rapid changing existing social economic structure and the living environment, and in economic activities have created the layout of district and human activity and geographical environment, the relationship has appeared in a series
- founded and published quarterly at Clark University
since 1925
Journal of Economic Geography - published by Oxford University Press
since 2001
Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie - The German Journal of Economic Geography published since 1956.
Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie (TESG) - Published by The Royal Dutch Geographical Society
(KNAG) since 1948.
Location theory
Location theory is concerned with the geographic location of economic activity; it has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses the questions of what economic activities are located where and why...
, following in the tradition of Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber was a German economist, sociologist and theoretician of culture whose work was influential in the development of modern economic geography.-Life:...
, tend to focus on industrial location and use quantitative methods. Since the 1970s, two broad reactions against neoclassical approaches have significantly changed the discipline: Marxist political economy, growing out of the work of David Harvey; and the new economic geography which takes into account social, cultural, and institutional factors in the spatial economy.
Economic geography is usually regarded as a subfield of the discipline of geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, although recently economists such as Paul Krugman
Paul Krugman
Paul Robin Krugman is an American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times...
and Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey Sachs
Jeffrey David Sachs is an American economist and Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. One of the youngest economics professors in the history of Harvard University, Sachs became known for his role as an adviser to Eastern European and developing country governments in the...
have pursued interests that can be considered part of economic geography. Krugman has gone so far as to call his application of spatial thinking to international trade theory the "new economic geography", which directly competes with an approach within the discipline of geography that is also called "new economic geography". The name geographical economics has been suggested as an alternative.
Given the variety of approaches, economic geography has taken to many different subject matters, including: the location of industries, economies of agglomeration
Economies of agglomeration
The term economies of agglomeration is used in urban economics to describe the benefits that firms obtain when locating near each other . This concept relates to the idea of economies of scale and network effects...
(also known as "linkages"), transportation
Transportation geography
Transportation Geography, also Transport Geography, is the branch of geography that investigates spatial interactions, let them be of people, freight and information. It can consider humans and their use of vehicles or other modes of travelling as well as how markets are serviced by flows of...
, international trade and development, real estate, gentrification, ethnic economies, gendered economies, core-periphery
Core-periphery
Core-periphery theory is based on the notion that as one region or state expands in economic prosperity, it must engulf regions nearby to ensure ongoing economic and political success. The area of high growth or former high growth becomes known as the core, and the neighboring area is the periphery...
theory, the economics of urban form, the relationship between the environment and the economy (tying into a long history of geographers studying culture-environment interaction), and globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. This list is by no means exhaustive.
Approaches to study
As the economic geography is a very broad discipline with economic geographers using many different methodologies in the study of economic phenomena in the world some distinct approaches to study have evolved over time:- Theoretical economic Geography focuses on building theories about spatial arrangement and distribution of economic activities.
- RegionalRegional geographyRegional geography is the study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions....
economic geography examines the economic conditions of particular regions or countries of the world. It deals with economic regionalization, and local economic developmentEconomic growthIn economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...
as well. - HistoricalHistorical geographyHistorical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time...
economic geography examines history and the development of spatial economic structure. Using historical data it examines how the centers of population and economic activity shift, what patterns of regional specialization and localization evolved over time and what factors explain these changes. - CriticalCritical geographyCritical geography takes a critical theory approach to the study and analysis of geography. The development of critical geography can be seen as one of the four major turning points in the history of geography...
economic geography is approach from the point of view of contemporary critical geographyCritical geographyCritical geography takes a critical theory approach to the study and analysis of geography. The development of critical geography can be seen as one of the four major turning points in the history of geography...
and its philosophy. - BehavioralBehavioral geographyBehavioral geography is an approach to human geography that examines human behavior using a disaggregate approach. Behavioral geographers focus on the cognitive processes underlying spatial reasoning, decision making, and behavior...
economic geography which examines the cognitive processes underlying spatial reasoning, locational decision making, and behavior of firms and individuals. - ...
Economic geography is a regional system of human economic activity to central to a discipline , It is an important anthropogeography branch disciplines , Include economic activities of position, space combination types and developing process, etc. To production as the main body of the human economic activities , Include production, exchange, distribution and consumption of the whole process, is by the material flow, commodity flow, population flow and information flow the rural and urban residential areas, transportation site, commercial service facilities and finance and other economic center link together and consisting of a economic activity system . This series of economic activities are in specific areas, therefore, with the regional for unit research world, regional economic activities of the system and its developmental process, and become the economic geography research the special field .
Branches
Thematically, economic geography can be divided into these sub disciplines:- Geography of Agriculture
- Geography of Industry
- Geography of International Trade
- Geography of Resources
- Geography of TransportTransportation geographyTransportation Geography, also Transport Geography, is the branch of geography that investigates spatial interactions, let them be of people, freight and information. It can consider humans and their use of vehicles or other modes of travelling as well as how markets are serviced by flows of...
and Communication - and others
However, their areas of study may overlap with other geographical sciences
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
or may be considered on their own.
History of economic geography
The history of economic geography was influenced by many theories arising, mainly, from economicsEconomics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and geographical sciences
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
.
First traces of the study of spatial aspects of economic activities can be found in seven Chinese maps of the State of Qin
Qin (state)
The State of Qin was a Chinese feudal state that existed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods of Chinese history...
dating to the 4th century BC. Ancient writings can be attributed to the Greek geographer Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
's Geographika compiled almost 2000 years ago. As the science of cartography
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
developed, geographers illuminated many aspects used today in the field; maps created by different European powers described the resources likely to be found in American, African, and Asian territories. The earliest travel journals included descriptions of the native peoples, the climate, the landscape, and the productivity of various locations. These early accounts encouraged the development of transcontinental trade patterns and ushered in the era of mercantilism
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
.
During the period known in geography as environmental determinism
Environmental determinism
Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture...
notable (though later much criticized) influence came from Ellsworth Huntington
Ellsworth Huntington
Ellsworth Huntington was a professor of geography at Yale University during the early 20th century, known for his studies on climatic determinism, economic growth and economic geography...
and his theory of climatic determinism.
Valuable contributions came from location theorists such as Johann Heinrich von Thünen
Johann Heinrich von Thünen
Johann Heinrich von Thünen was a prominent nineteenth century economist. Von Thünen was a Mecklenburg landowner, who in the first volume of his treatise, The Isolated State , developed the first serious treatment of spatial economics, connecting it with the theory of rent...
or Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber
Alfred Weber was a German economist, sociologist and theoretician of culture whose work was influential in the development of modern economic geography.-Life:...
. Other influential theories were Walter Christaller
Walter Christaller
Walter Christaller , was a German geographer whose principal contribution to the discipline is Central Place Theory, first published in 1933...
's Central place theory
Central Place Theory
Central place theory is a geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. The theory was created by the German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing services to...
, the theory of core and periphery.
Fred K. Schaefer
Fred K. Schaefer
Fred K. Schaefer was a geographer. He is considered as one of the pioneers of quantitative revolution.-Life:Fred K. Schaefer was born in Berlin, Germany in the family of metal worker. He was involved in politics as a member of Social Democratic party and after the rise of fascism he fled from Nazi...
's article Exceptionalism in geography: A Methodological Examination published in American journal Annals (Association of American Geographers) and his critique of regionalism had a big impact on economic geography. The article became a rallying point for the younger generation of economic geographers who were intent on reinventing the discipline as a science. Quantitative methods became prevailing in research. Well-known economic geographers of this period are William Garrison
William Garrison (geographer)
William Louis Garrison is an American geographer and transportation analyst, currently a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the University of Washington in the 1950s, Garrison led the "quantitative revolution" in geography, which applied computers and statistics...
, Brian Berry
Brian Berry
Brian Joe Lobley Berry is a British-American human geographer. He is Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas...
, Waldo Tobler, Peter Haggett
Peter Haggett
Peter Haggett, CBE Sc.D. FBA is an eminent British geographer and academic, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow in Urban and Regional Geography at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol....
, William Bunge
William Bunge
William Wheeler Bunge Jr. is an American geographer active mainly as a quantitative geographer and spatial theorist. He also became a radical geographer and anti-war activist in the USA and Canada.-Personal life:...
and others.
Contemporary economic geographers tend to specialize in areas such as location theory
Location theory
Location theory is concerned with the geographic location of economic activity; it has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses the questions of what economic activities are located where and why...
and spatial analysis
Spatial analysis
Spatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties...
(with the help of geographic information systems), market research, geography of transportation, land or real estate price evaluation, regional and global development, planning, Internet geography, innovation, social networks and others.
Economists and economic geographers
Economists and economic geographers differ in their methods in approaching similar economic problems in several ways. To generalize, an economic geographer will take a more holistic approach in the analysis of economic phenomena, which is to conceptualize a problem in terms of space, place and scale as well as the overt economic problem that is being examined. The economist approach, according to economic geographers, has four main drawbacks or manifestations of “economic orthodoxy that tends to homogenize the economic world in way that economic geographers try to avoid (Coe et al. p.10)”.Economic geography in China
China's economic geography development through the comparison of unique way. Besides developing stage, institutional environment and traditional culture, ideology, from such factors as the European and American countries and the former Soviet union's academic thoughts of alternating input also affecting China's economic geography development process. Generally speaking, after the founding of our country economic geography development can be used "to task with discipline" to summarize, namely: the development of the discipline of primary target and driving force is to satisfy the demand of the country, at the same time in the practice task promoted disciplinary theoretical development and construction. This directly facing the government demand for research work to make economic geography to the national economic construction has made important contributions, also make economic geography in government departments at all levels are widely recognized. Is it the European and American countries economic geography is deficits. However, it is also nature of work makes our economic geography of pure theoretical research relatively weak. Meanwhile, the system changes are separated the discipline theory process of accumulation, Part of the planned economy period, the theory and knowledge accumulated to a certain extent, lost utility. This only shows that China's economic geography is in the theory of institutional reform period reconstruction phase and can't be think this subject lack of theoretical basis
Economic geography in Chinese history:
China from the 1920s began receiving western economic geography, mainly through Europe and America to Europe and America send scholars lecturing and students. Until the late 1940s, in more than 10 universities in systematically teach geography, in which economic geography British staples, as a representative of the statistical records school effect is extensive. This period, China's economic geography work is mainly about the population distribution, land use and agricultural division, border prospecting and regional and inspection.
The second world war to the popularization of geographical knowledge plays a significant positive effect. The post-war world economic recovery and development, promote the development of economic geography. Before the second world war, economic geography in psychological therewithal are distributed theory, the key is to study of regional variations in the post-war entered location theory and landscape type research studies of the modern period.
Since 1960s, the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, electronic computers are applied promotion, social productive forces powerful and new technology applications, and most countries in the world the improvement of people's living standard, the rapid changing existing social economic structure and the living environment, and in economic activities have created the layout of district and human activity and geographical environment, the relationship has appeared in a series
See also
- Location theoryLocation theoryLocation theory is concerned with the geographic location of economic activity; it has become an integral part of economic geography, regional science, and spatial economics. Location theory addresses the questions of what economic activities are located where and why...
- Spatial analysisSpatial analysisSpatial analysis or spatial statistics includes any of the formal techniques which study entities using their topological, geometric, or geographic properties...
- Development geographyDevelopment geographyDevelopment geography is the study of the earth's geography with reference to the standard of living and quality of life of its human inhabitants. In this context, development is a process of change that affects people's lives. It may involve an improvement in the quality of life as perceived by...
- Regional scienceRegional scienceRegional science is a field of the social sciences concerned with analytical approaches to problems that are specifically urban, rural, or regional...
- Retail geographyRetail geographyRetail Geography is the study of where to place retail stores based on where their customers are. The use of retail geography has grown significantly in the past decade due to the use of geographic information systems .-See also:*Marketing geography...
- Rural economicsRural economicsRural economics is the study of rural economies, including:* farm and non-farm industry.* economic growth, development, and change * size and spatial distribution of production and household units and interregional trade* land use...
- Urban economicsUrban economicsUrban economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas; as such, it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime, education, public transit, housing, and local government finance...
- Business clusterBusiness clusterA business cluster is a geographic concentration of interconnected businesses, suppliers, and associated institutions in a particular field. Clusters are considered to increase the productivity with which companies can compete, nationally and globally. In urban studies, the term agglomeration is used...
- Gravity model of tradeGravity model of tradeThe gravity model of trade in international economics, similar to other gravity models in social science, predicts bilateral trade flows based on the economic sizes of and distance between two units. The model was first used by Tinbergen in 1962...
Further reading
- Combes, P.-P. - Mayer, T. - Thisse, J.T. (2008). Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations, Princeton. Description. Scroll down to chapter-preview links.
- Dicken, P. (2003): Global Shift: Reshaping the Global Economic Map in the 21st Century, Fourth Edition. The Guilford Press.
- Lee, R. - Wills, J. (1997). Geographies of Economies, Arnold, London.
- Massey, D.Doreen Massey (geographer)Doreen Barbara Massey FRSA FBA AcSS , is a contemporary British social scientist and geographer, working among others on topics typical of marxist geography...
(1984): Spatial Divisions of Labour, Social Structures and the Structure of Production, MacMillan, London. - Yeung, Henry Wai-Chung, Neil M. Coe, and Philip F. Kelly. (2007). Economic Geography: A Contemporary Introduction. Grand Rapids: Blackwell Limited. Scroll down to chapter-preview links.
Scientific journals
Economic GeographyEconomic Geography (journal)
Economic Geography is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by Clark University since 1925....
- founded and published quarterly at Clark University
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
since 1925
Journal of Economic Geography - published by Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
since 2001
Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie - The German Journal of Economic Geography published since 1956.
Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie (TESG) - Published by The Royal Dutch Geographical Society
Royal Dutch Geographical Society
The Royal Dutch Geographical Society, or Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap in Dutch, is an organization of geographers and those interested in geography in The Netherlands. It has about 4000 members and sponsors lectures on geography...
(KNAG) since 1948.