Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 3 . 1
Some key issues in the application of the concept of path dependence in
economic geography
Key questions
Issues
What is the object of
study?
What precisely are we referring to: a region's i rms, its industries,
or the regional economy as an aggregate? What is the relationship
between the micro-level and the regional aggregate level? Path
dependence is a multi-scalar process, operating at dif erent levels.
How do these interact within regional economic spaces? Is regional
path dependence an emergent ef ect?
What are the
mechanisms of
regional path
dependence?
What are the sources of path dependence within local and regional
economies (sunk costs and infrastructures, external economies of
industrial localisation, general agglomeration economies, local socio-
cultural-institutional embeddedness, local and extra-local economic
dependencies and linkages)? How do these mechanisms vary (and
interact) across space?
Do all parts of a
regional economy
display path
dependence?
Is a certain threshold of interaction and inter-relatedness within
a region economy required before it displays aggregate path
dependence? Can dif erent paths co-exist within a region, and how do
these interact - what is the nature of 'inter-path coupling'?
What are the sources
Some will be more or less specii c to particular types of regional
economy; but dif erent forms of path dependence are likely to co-
exist within a regional economy. In this sense, the notion of regional
path dependence is complex and multi-dimensional. Is a single,
overarching theory possible?
of regional path
dependence?
Do the nature and
Regions dif er markedly in economic structure, institutions,
connections to other regions and beyond, etc., so the nature and
degree of path dependence might be expected to vary from region to
region. In what ways is path dependence a locally contingent - that is,
a place-dependent - process?
strength of path
dependence vary
from region to
region?
In what sense does path
dependence explain
the evolution of the
economic landscape?
What sort of evolution is implied by path dependence? Is path
dependence consistent with incremental economic change and
mutation? Or does it imply a 'punctuated equilibrium' process of
evolution and transformation of the economic landscape? Where do
new paths come from, and why do they emerge where they do?
How pervasive is path
Is it a fundamental feature of regional development and evolution -
i.e. inevitable and indeed necessary for regional growth to take place?
Or is it more typical of economically specialised regions and localities,
and less likely to emerge in areas with diverse economic-technological
structures?
dependence in the
economic landscape?
Source:
Based on Martin and Sunley (2006).
where x is the economic state or outcome of interest, and the function F x e , governing the
change over time of the system, generates a unique and stable equilibrium x e . In such a
conception, equilibrium is not a real emergent outcome of actual historical processes and
events, but an abstract solution state determined by the specii c assumptions, equations,
and exogenous parameters and variables built into a formal economic model, the basic
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