Re-thinking economic development in peripheral regions

Abstract

Economic development in peripheral or non-urban spaces has long been characteristic of so-called ‘branch plant’ and ‘back office’ economies. This conclusion has been premised on the explanatory potential of the product cycle model (PCM). The PCM suggests preliminary product and process innovations occur in core urban areas. Under that model, the diffusion of economic activities across space occurs only when the production process has been streamlined and routinized. Additionally, the geographic concept of spatial agglomeration has underscored the explanatory account of the PCM. In concert, the PCM and agglomeration illustrate the urban or core bias of traditional economic geography. This paper will reconsider regional development in peripheral areas within the context of an emerging new economic geography. Several themes of new economic geography, including the role of the state, the spatial division of labor, producer services, information technologies, and amenities, will be used to construct a proposed cumulative framework.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the input of Dr. Robert Q. Hanham and Dr. Frank Calzonetti of the Department of Geology and Geography at West Virginia University and the support of the West Virginia Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WV EPSCoR). Finally, the author wishes to thank the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments.