Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Of course, as we have noted, the use of biological metaphors in economic geography
raises it own set of issues, some of which are highlighted in the contributions to this
handbook. Metaphors, by their nature are never complete, precise or literal mappings.
If they were precise representations they would not be metaphors, and the juxtaposition
of similar and dif erent conceptual frameworks would be lost. The ontological challenge
is to recast the evolutionary metaphors abducted from biology, the theory of complex
adaptive systems and other such i elds, and imbue them with geographical content and
meaning, with the aim of eventually constructing a theory of spatial economic evolu-
tion.
This is not to suggest that an evolutionary perspective will or should replace other
approaches to economic geography. We do not believe in theoretical or methodological
monism. As a discipline, economic geography is necessarily and rightly eclectic and plu-
ralistic in theoretical and empirical orientation. But we do believe that an evolutionary
perspective has much to contribute to our discipline: it of ers a distinctive way of looking
at the economic landscape, it provides new insights, and it helps to stimulate an apprecia-
tion of historical change more widely within the subject. We hope this handbook will aid
the advance of evolutionary economic geography on all three of these fronts.
Notes
1. Almost all of the contributions to the topic started life as, or are based on, presentations made at this
workshop. The support of the ESF is gratefully acknowledged.
2. A recent topic by Jovanovic (2009) entitled Evolutionary Economic Geography is partial in its conception
and coverage, and indeed seems to blend evolutionary economic geography with elements of the 'new eco-
nomic geography', which to our mind is a rather forced - and incompatible - marriage of perspectives.
3. In fact a fourth i eld can be identii ed, namely that of panarchy (see Gunderson and Holling, 2002), in
which the focus is on the evolutionary-type notions of adaptive cycles and resilience in ecological and
social systems. These ideas have yet to be taken up by evolutionary economists and economic geographers,
though they are beginning to attract interest (e.g. Hill et al., 2008).
4. This echoes recent calls from economic geographers to advocate approaches in which prime attention
is given to the i rm rather than the region (e.g. Boschma 2004; Taylor and Asheim 2001; Malmberg and
Maskell, Chapter 18, this volume). After having reviewed a number of theories of the i rm, including
agency theory and transaction cost economics, Maskell (2001a) claims that evolutionary economics is
especially useful to economic geographers because of its emphasis on learning and innovation, and because
of the possibility to analyse territorial aggregates of i rms in regional and national innovation systems (see
also Maskell, 2001b).
5.
Though it should be noted that Setteri eld (1997) argued for a model of path-dependent economic develop-
ment (and cumulative causation) that endogenised the evolution of institutions. In his model, institutions
are regarded as i xed (exogenous) in the short run (such stability being necessary for economic growth and
accumulation to proceed in coni dence), but as changeable (and endogenous) in the medium to longer run,
responding to the changing imperatives and needs of the economy.
6.
Glaeser's (2005) study of how Boston has repeatedly 'reinvented' itself over the past three hundred and i fty
years provides a striking example of how a city can overcome institutional and sunk costs, and renew its
growth dynamic, in Boston's case by drawing on and replenishing its skilled labour force.
References
Abernathy, W.J. and J.M. Utterback (1978), 'Patterns of industrial innovation', Technology Review , 80 ,
41-47.
Agrawal, A., I. Cockburn and J. McHale (2006), 'Gone but not forgotten: knowledge l ows, labor mobility,
and enduring social relationships', Journal of Economic Geography , 6 , 571-91.
Amin, A. and N. Thrift (2000), 'What kind of economic theory for what kind of economic geography?',
Antipode , 32 (1), 4-9.
Arthur, W.B. (1989), 'Competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events', The
Economic Journal , 99 , 116-31.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search