"A comprehensive and highly readable review of the conceptual underpinnings of economic geography. Students and professional scholars alike will find it extremely useful both as a reference manual and as an authoritative guide to the numerous theoretical debates that characterize the field." - Allen J. Scott, University of California "Guides readers skilfully through the rapidly changing field of economic geography... The key concepts used to structure this narrative range from key actors and processes within global economic change to a discussion of newer areas of research including work on financialisation and consumption. The result is a highly readable synthesis of contemporary debates within economic geography that is also sensitive to the history of the sub-discipline." - Sarah Hall, University of Nottingham "The nice thing about this text is that it is concise but with depth in its coverage. A must have for any library, and a useful desk reference for any serious student of economic geography or political economy." - Adam Dixon, Bristol University Organized around 20 short essays, Key Concepts in Economic Geography provides a cutting edge introduction to the central concepts that define contemporary research in economic geography. Involving detailed and expansive discussions, the book includes: An introductory chapter providing a succinct overview of the recent developments in the field. Over 20 key concept entries with comprehensive explanations, definitions and evolutions of the subject. Extensive pedagogic features that enhance understanding including figures, diagrams and further reading. An ideal companion text for upper-level undergraduate and postgraduate students in economic geography, the book presents the key concepts in the discipline, demonstrating their historical roots and contemporary applications to fully understand the processes of economic change, regional growth and decline, globalization, and the changing locations of firms and industries. Written by an internationally recognized set of authors, the book is an essential addition to any geography student′s library.

The turbulence of the current times has dramatically transformed the world’s economic geographies. The scale and scope of such changes require urgent attention. With intellectual roots dating to the nineteenth century, economic geography has traditionally sought to examine the spatial distributions of economic activity and the principles that account for them. More recently, the field has turned its attention to a range of questions relating to: globalization and its impact on different peoples and places; economic inequalities at different geographic scales; the development of the knowledge-based economy; and the relationship between economy and environment. Now, more than ever, the changing fortunes of peoples and places demands our attention. Economic Geography provides a stimulating and innovative introduction to economic geography by establishing the substantive concerns of economic geographers, the methods deployed to study them, the key concepts and theories that animate the field, and the major issues generating debate. This book is the first to address the diverse approaches to economic geography as well as the constantly shifting economic geographies on the ground. It encompasses traditional approaches, albeit from a critical perspective, while providing a thorough, accessible and engaging examination of the concerns, methods and approaches of the ‘new economic geography’. This unique introductory text covers the breadth of economic geography while engaging with a range of contemporary debates at the cutting-edge of the field. Written in an accessible and lucid style, this book offers a thorough and systematic introductory survey. It is enhanced by pedagogical features throughout including case studies dealing with topics ranging from the head office locations of the Fortune 500, Mexico’s maquiladoras to China’s investments in Southern Africa. This book also contains exercises based on the key concepts and annotated further reading and websites.

This volume in the celebrated Critical Introductions to Geography series introduces readers to the vibrant discipline of economic geography. The authors provide an original definition of the discipline, and they make a strong case for its vital importance in understanding the dynamic interconnections, movements, and emerging trends shaping our globalized world. Economic Geography addresses the key theories and methods that form the basis of the discipline, and describes its “communities of practice” and relations to related fields including economics and sociology. Numerous illustrative examples explore how economic geographers examine the world and how and why the discipline takes the forms it does, demonstrating the critical value of economic geography to making sense of globalization, uneven development, money and finance, urbanization, environmental change, and industrial and technological transformation. Engaging and thought-provoking, Economic Geography: A Critical Introduction is the ideal resource for students studying across a range of subject areas, as well as the general reader with an interest in world affairs and economics.

Much of the world's economic activity takes place in between cities and nations - the geographical containers that we have taken for granted for hundreds of years now. In this book Nicholas Phelps provides a guide to this uncharted territory within urban and economic geography. He highlights the importance of intermediary actors and processes in shaping this economy in between. From the airports, shopping malls, and office parks that have sprung up on the road between cities, to work done on the move in cars and trains, to the decisions made by internationally mobile networks of experts in conferences and negotiations. The geography of the economy in between is revealed as one involving four recurring and coexisting economic geographical formations - the agglomeration, the enclave, the networks, and the arena. Phelps sets out a multidisciplinary perspective and agenda on the question of the how, why, and where much contemporary economic activity takes place.

The need for a better understanding of the role location plays in economic life was first and most famously made explicit by Bertil Ohlin in 1933. However it is only recently, with the development of computer packages able to handle complex systems, as well as advances in economic theory (in particular an increased understanding of returns to scale and imperfect competition), that Ohlin s vision has been met and a framework developed which explains the distribution of economic activity across space. This book is an integrated, non-mathematical, first-principles textbook presenting geographical economics to advanced students. Never avoiding advanced concepts, its emphasis is on examples, diagrams, and empirical evidence, making it the ideal starting point prior to monographic and journal material. Contains copious computer simulation exercises, available in book and electronic format to encourage learning and understanding through application. Uses case study material from North America, Europe, Africa and Australasia.