A Geographical Political Economy of Evolution in Economic Geography

Abstract

Key themes for evolution in economic geography are identified that clarify and further refine and reinforce our argument for broader conceptions of institutions, social agency, and power and for the situation of the plural and emerging field of evolutionary approaches more fully within geographical political economy. We address the following issues: conceptual and terminological clarity; evolution and institutions within and beyond the firm; agency, bounded determinacy, and power; and research method and design. Our central contention is that geographical political economy provides a coherent and well-structured conceptual and theoretical framework with which to broaden and deepen our understanding, exploration, and practice of evolutionary thinking in economic geography.

Key Words:

• geographical political economy
• evolution
• economic geography

Acknowledgments

We thank Gernot Grabher for organizing this debate and Geoffrey Hodgson, Ron Boschma, Koen Frenken, and Jürgen Essletzbichler for their engagement with our article and for this constructive dialogue. The usual disclaimers apply.