Over the last fifteen years, we have been observing an increasing fragmentation of economic geogr... more Over the last fifteen years, we have been observing an increasing fragmentation of economic geography, concerning both schools of thought, perspectives, paradigms, themes and the educational background of researchers. The poly-vocal character of economic geography includes a variety of language areas, a phenomenon so far unknown to a large part of Anglo-American economic geographers. Particularly in the literature about theories, perspectives and paradigms, the non-English speaking world is largely ignored as a basis for debate. Even worse, leading scholars in the field increasingly use the term Anglo-American economic geography to refer to the whole field, although they describe trends and theories in both general and authoritative terms. The aim of this paper is to move beyond Anglo-American economic geography by introducing and reviewing economic geography literature in some other main languages, namely Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. The purpose of doing so is not merely to show that there is more than Anglo-American economic geography, but also to derive from these non-English voices insights in how to move to an integrative paradigm of a truly international economic geography.
The shift of manufacturing industry from Japan, the first industrializing nation in East Asia, to... more The shift of manufacturing industry from Japan, the first industrializing nation in East Asia, to neighboring South Korea and China saw the emergence of restructuring problems and policies in traditional industries and regional economies depending on them. Based on a literature review on this topic in East Asia, this paper draws three conclusions. First, the resource endowments of the three countries differ greatly and consequently also the magnitude of restructuring problems. Secondly, governments in all three countries strongly affect restructuring processes, albeit with different policies and at different spatial scales. Thirdly, although many studies have a strong applied, policy-oriented character, recent research, particularly in China, has started to use evolutionary theories and to engage with debates of mainstream economic geography.
The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of long-term uneven resilience by crit... more The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of long-term uneven resilience by critically exploring the notion of adaptation and adaptability. Moving beyond the conventional trade-off assumption, the paper proposes three main types of adaptation-adaptability relationships, namely competing, separated and reciprocal, as an analytical approach to explain uneven regional resilience. Two empirical case studies of municipal-level mining regions with a common crisis of coal exhaustion in China, namely Zaozhuang and Fuxin, show how variations of adaptation-adaptability relationships result in uneven resilience.
Over the last twenty years, modern economic geography has been increasingly fragmented, particula... more Over the last twenty years, modern economic geography has been increasingly fragmented, particularly concerning its themes, on the one hand, and its schools of thought, perspectives and paradigms, on the other. Although there have been arguments in favor of engaged pluralism between the latter, what we see in reality is mainly fragmented pluralism, which is particularly problematic for the identification with the sub-discipline and the exchange with neighboring social disciplines. In order to solve this problem, in our view, we need an Integrative Paradigm of Economic Geography. In this paper, we sketch the contours of such a paradigm, which consists of a core, namely economic activities in space, place and scales and their drivers, and three inter-related ontological foundations, namely networks, evolution and institutions.
Pokémon Go, a highly popular, recently launched augmented-reality-based video game, fosters play-... more Pokémon Go, a highly popular, recently launched augmented-reality-based video game, fosters play-ers' interaction with the real world. In this commentary we elaborate on how location-based games, such as Pokémon Go, have provided insights into the perception and understanding of space, as well as into their impact on patterns of mobility. In addition to that, we compare Pokémon Go with geocaching, another location-based game, to further elaborate on what Pokémon Go fails to do in terms of the practices of geographical exploration.
One of the most intriguing questions in economic geography is why it is that some regional econom... more One of the most intriguing questions in economic geography is why it is that some regional economies manage to renew themselves, whereas others remain locked in decline. In addition to evolutionary concepts, the idea of resilience is derived from ecology, psychology and disaster studies to tackle this question. After a strong critique of the regional resilience concept in 2010 pointing at some fundamental shortcomings, a burgeoning conceptual and empirical literature on regional resilience has emerged. This chapter therefore aims at revisiting the early critique on the basis 2 of a review of recent literature. It concludes that although most critique has been taken seriously, other, new challenges have recently emerged.
Although the role of the local state in China's regional development has been regarded as importa... more Although the role of the local state in China's regional development has been regarded as important, individual local state actors and their relation with institutional change have been under-explored. Critically exploring the Western idea of place leadership, this paper launches the notion of local state leadership as a specific Chinese form of place leadership. Through a case study of the coal-mining region, Zaozhuang, Shandong, it articulates how interpretive, formal and network leadership are exercised by the prefectural-level mayor to affect institutionalization processes. These processes collectively create broader enabling conditions for local industrial change.
Since the launch of new economic geography by Paul Krugman there have been intensive debates betw... more Since the launch of new economic geography by Paul Krugman there have been intensive debates between geographical economists and economic geographers both about the ways they differ from each other as well as about potential complementarities. Overman's (2004) provocative article, titled " can we learning anything from economic geography proper? " has been not very helpful in developing the latter. By responding to his core critiques we provide a much more positive answer to his question, do justice to economic geography and show more complementarities between geographical economics and economic geography.
Strengthening innovation capacity of European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by means of the... more Strengthening innovation capacity of European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by means of their participation in the Sixth (FP6-SME) and Seventh (FP7-SME) Framework Programmes was an important objective of the European Union policies. Since SMEs form the backbone of the Italian economy, their strong presence in an international network such as the one fostered by the European Union represents a great opportunity, particularly for firms located in southern Italy – the marginal macro-area of the country in terms of innovation – to increase their competitiveness. Based on the major literature on topics such as knowledge exchange, innovation networks and disparities, and on descriptive statistics and a cluster analysis in a dynamic perspective, our study aimed to assess the actual intra-regional, extra-regional and transnational links established by the Italian SMEs and public research establishments (PREs). In the next step we assessed whether knowledge flows fostered by the FP6-SME and FP7-SME were mainly concentrated in the traditionally winning macro-regional areas (North and Center) or led to more widespread benefits in favor of SMEs located in the marginal South. The findings of our study revealed a very limited number of connections – with a related weak knowledge exchange – involving the southern regions, implying a reinforcement of innovation activities in the traditionally most dynamic industrial areas of the country.
The objective of this review paper is twofold: First, to review and synthesize the literature on ... more The objective of this review paper is twofold: First, to review and synthesize the literature on the geographies of creative industries embedded in modern paradigms of economic geography; secondly, to reflect upon and identify a promising research agenda on the drivers of the geographical patterns of creative industries. Several deficiencies of current research are identified in this paper, and based on these deficiencies, we suggest some promising avenues for future research. In particular, we develop a comprehensive framework that goes beyond the analysis of individual drivers of the geographies of creative industries.
Since 2006 economic geographers have been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm o... more Since 2006 economic geographers have been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm of evolutionary economic geography. This paper aims at advancing evolutionary economic geography by reviewing its core critique and proposed solutions, particularly that of integrating the perspective of a geographical political economy. Although we sympathize with the identified shortcomings of evolutionary economic geography, we regard the proposed alternative approach, geographical political economy, as too narrow and reductionist. By combining evolutionary and relational economic geography in certain respects we plead for advancing evolutionary economic geography by engaged pluralism.
Theoretical economic geography concepts have recently become increasingly popular in tourism stud... more Theoretical economic geography concepts have recently become increasingly popular in tourism studies. One of the reasons is the increasing importance of innovation and evolution in the tourism sector, areas that have been theorized much earlier in economic geography. In this chapter we contribute to this emerging literature by focusing on two key notions from economic geography, namely co-evolution and regional innovation systems. We argue that they can play a key explanatory role in understanding and explaining the development of tourist destinations through time. The notion of co-evolution can be used both to deepen the links between evolutionary economic geography and tourism studies, in general, and to strengthen the concept of tourism regional innovation systems in particular. With the help of the co-evolutionary perspective it becomes clear that the evolution of tourism areas is a complicated multiple-level co-evolution rather than a simple curve with different stages.
Over the last fifteen years, we have been observing an increasing fragmentation of economic geogr... more Over the last fifteen years, we have been observing an increasing fragmentation of economic geography, concerning both schools of thought, perspectives, paradigms, themes and the educational background of researchers. The poly-vocal character of economic geography includes a variety of language areas, a phenomenon so far unknown to a large part of Anglo-American economic geographers. Particularly in the literature about theories, perspectives and paradigms, the non-English speaking world is largely ignored as a basis for debate. Even worse, leading scholars in the field increasingly use the term Anglo-American economic geography to refer to the whole field, although they describe trends and theories in both general and authoritative terms. The aim of this paper is to move beyond Anglo-American economic geography by introducing and reviewing economic geography literature in some other main languages, namely Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese. The purpose of doing so is not merely to show that there is more than Anglo-American economic geography, but also to derive from these non-English voices insights in how to move to an integrative paradigm of a truly international economic geography.
The shift of manufacturing industry from Japan, the first industrializing nation in East Asia, to... more The shift of manufacturing industry from Japan, the first industrializing nation in East Asia, to neighboring South Korea and China saw the emergence of restructuring problems and policies in traditional industries and regional economies depending on them. Based on a literature review on this topic in East Asia, this paper draws three conclusions. First, the resource endowments of the three countries differ greatly and consequently also the magnitude of restructuring problems. Secondly, governments in all three countries strongly affect restructuring processes, albeit with different policies and at different spatial scales. Thirdly, although many studies have a strong applied, policy-oriented character, recent research, particularly in China, has started to use evolutionary theories and to engage with debates of mainstream economic geography.
The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of long-term uneven resilience by crit... more The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of long-term uneven resilience by critically exploring the notion of adaptation and adaptability. Moving beyond the conventional trade-off assumption, the paper proposes three main types of adaptation-adaptability relationships, namely competing, separated and reciprocal, as an analytical approach to explain uneven regional resilience. Two empirical case studies of municipal-level mining regions with a common crisis of coal exhaustion in China, namely Zaozhuang and Fuxin, show how variations of adaptation-adaptability relationships result in uneven resilience.
Over the last twenty years, modern economic geography has been increasingly fragmented, particula... more Over the last twenty years, modern economic geography has been increasingly fragmented, particularly concerning its themes, on the one hand, and its schools of thought, perspectives and paradigms, on the other. Although there have been arguments in favor of engaged pluralism between the latter, what we see in reality is mainly fragmented pluralism, which is particularly problematic for the identification with the sub-discipline and the exchange with neighboring social disciplines. In order to solve this problem, in our view, we need an Integrative Paradigm of Economic Geography. In this paper, we sketch the contours of such a paradigm, which consists of a core, namely economic activities in space, place and scales and their drivers, and three inter-related ontological foundations, namely networks, evolution and institutions.
Pokémon Go, a highly popular, recently launched augmented-reality-based video game, fosters play-... more Pokémon Go, a highly popular, recently launched augmented-reality-based video game, fosters play-ers' interaction with the real world. In this commentary we elaborate on how location-based games, such as Pokémon Go, have provided insights into the perception and understanding of space, as well as into their impact on patterns of mobility. In addition to that, we compare Pokémon Go with geocaching, another location-based game, to further elaborate on what Pokémon Go fails to do in terms of the practices of geographical exploration.
One of the most intriguing questions in economic geography is why it is that some regional econom... more One of the most intriguing questions in economic geography is why it is that some regional economies manage to renew themselves, whereas others remain locked in decline. In addition to evolutionary concepts, the idea of resilience is derived from ecology, psychology and disaster studies to tackle this question. After a strong critique of the regional resilience concept in 2010 pointing at some fundamental shortcomings, a burgeoning conceptual and empirical literature on regional resilience has emerged. This chapter therefore aims at revisiting the early critique on the basis 2 of a review of recent literature. It concludes that although most critique has been taken seriously, other, new challenges have recently emerged.
Although the role of the local state in China's regional development has been regarded as importa... more Although the role of the local state in China's regional development has been regarded as important, individual local state actors and their relation with institutional change have been under-explored. Critically exploring the Western idea of place leadership, this paper launches the notion of local state leadership as a specific Chinese form of place leadership. Through a case study of the coal-mining region, Zaozhuang, Shandong, it articulates how interpretive, formal and network leadership are exercised by the prefectural-level mayor to affect institutionalization processes. These processes collectively create broader enabling conditions for local industrial change.
Since the launch of new economic geography by Paul Krugman there have been intensive debates betw... more Since the launch of new economic geography by Paul Krugman there have been intensive debates between geographical economists and economic geographers both about the ways they differ from each other as well as about potential complementarities. Overman's (2004) provocative article, titled " can we learning anything from economic geography proper? " has been not very helpful in developing the latter. By responding to his core critiques we provide a much more positive answer to his question, do justice to economic geography and show more complementarities between geographical economics and economic geography.
Strengthening innovation capacity of European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by means of the... more Strengthening innovation capacity of European small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by means of their participation in the Sixth (FP6-SME) and Seventh (FP7-SME) Framework Programmes was an important objective of the European Union policies. Since SMEs form the backbone of the Italian economy, their strong presence in an international network such as the one fostered by the European Union represents a great opportunity, particularly for firms located in southern Italy – the marginal macro-area of the country in terms of innovation – to increase their competitiveness. Based on the major literature on topics such as knowledge exchange, innovation networks and disparities, and on descriptive statistics and a cluster analysis in a dynamic perspective, our study aimed to assess the actual intra-regional, extra-regional and transnational links established by the Italian SMEs and public research establishments (PREs). In the next step we assessed whether knowledge flows fostered by the FP6-SME and FP7-SME were mainly concentrated in the traditionally winning macro-regional areas (North and Center) or led to more widespread benefits in favor of SMEs located in the marginal South. The findings of our study revealed a very limited number of connections – with a related weak knowledge exchange – involving the southern regions, implying a reinforcement of innovation activities in the traditionally most dynamic industrial areas of the country.
The objective of this review paper is twofold: First, to review and synthesize the literature on ... more The objective of this review paper is twofold: First, to review and synthesize the literature on the geographies of creative industries embedded in modern paradigms of economic geography; secondly, to reflect upon and identify a promising research agenda on the drivers of the geographical patterns of creative industries. Several deficiencies of current research are identified in this paper, and based on these deficiencies, we suggest some promising avenues for future research. In particular, we develop a comprehensive framework that goes beyond the analysis of individual drivers of the geographies of creative industries.
Since 2006 economic geographers have been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm o... more Since 2006 economic geographers have been confronted with attempts to constitute a new paradigm of evolutionary economic geography. This paper aims at advancing evolutionary economic geography by reviewing its core critique and proposed solutions, particularly that of integrating the perspective of a geographical political economy. Although we sympathize with the identified shortcomings of evolutionary economic geography, we regard the proposed alternative approach, geographical political economy, as too narrow and reductionist. By combining evolutionary and relational economic geography in certain respects we plead for advancing evolutionary economic geography by engaged pluralism.
Theoretical economic geography concepts have recently become increasingly popular in tourism stud... more Theoretical economic geography concepts have recently become increasingly popular in tourism studies. One of the reasons is the increasing importance of innovation and evolution in the tourism sector, areas that have been theorized much earlier in economic geography. In this chapter we contribute to this emerging literature by focusing on two key notions from economic geography, namely co-evolution and regional innovation systems. We argue that they can play a key explanatory role in understanding and explaining the development of tourist destinations through time. The notion of co-evolution can be used both to deepen the links between evolutionary economic geography and tourism studies, in general, and to strengthen the concept of tourism regional innovation systems in particular. With the help of the co-evolutionary perspective it becomes clear that the evolution of tourism areas is a complicated multiple-level co-evolution rather than a simple curve with different stages.
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