Abstract
This chapter reviews some of major thematic approaches which have characterized urban and regional research over recent decades. Three broad schools of research are discussed, namely, the new economic geography, the new urban agenda, and the evolutionary and institutional school. The major assumptions underlying each of the schools of thought are outlined, and the broad areas of agreement and disagreement between the three schools of thought are highlighted. The changing economic realities on the ground in many regions, whereby the previously dominant large cities are no longer the key drivers of economic growth, pose major conceptual, analytical, and empirical challenges to all three of these schools of thought, schools which had emerged precisely during the period when major cities were reemerging as the drivers of growth.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barca F, McCann P, Rodriguez-Pose A (2012) The case for regional development intervention: place-based versus place-neutral approaches. J Reg Sci 52(1):134–152
Bosker M, Garretsen JH (2010) Trade costs in empirical new economic geography. Pap Reg Sci 89(3):485–511
Carniti E, Cerniglia F, Longaretti R, Michelangeli A (2019) Decentralisation: for whom the bell tolls. Reg Stud. See: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00343404.2018.1494382
Chen W, Los B, McCann P, Ortega-Argilés R, Thissen M, van Oort F (2018) The continental divide? Economic exposure to Brexit in regions and countries on both sides of the channel. Pap Reg Sci 97(1):25–54
Cicerone G, McCann P, Venhorst V (2019) Promoting regional growth and innovation: relatedness, revealed comparative advantage and the product space. J Econ Geogr. See: https://academic.oup.com/joeg/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jeg/lbz001/5316009
de Groot HLF, Poot J, Smit M (2009) Agglomeration externalities, innovation and regional growth: theoretical perspectives and meta-analysis. In: Cappello R, Nijkamp P (eds) Handbook of regional growth and development theories. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 256–281
Doloreux D, Shearmur R (2012) Collaboration, information and the geography of innovation in knowledge intensive business services. J Econ Geograph 12(1):79–105
Duranton G, Overman HG (2005) Testing for localization using micro-geographic data. Rev Econ Stud 72(4):1077–1106
Duranton G, Puga D (2001) Nursery cities: urban diversity, process innovation, and the life cycle of products. Am Econ Rev 91(5):1454–1477
Ellison G, Glaeser EL, Kerr WR (2010) What causes industry agglomeration? Evidence from coagglomeration patterns. Am Econ Rev 100(3):1195–1213
Florida R (2002) The rise of the creative class. Basic Books, New York
Frenken K, Van Oort FG, Verburg T (2007) Related variety, unrelated variety and regional economic growth. Reg Stud 41(5):685–697
Fujita M, Krugman P, Venables AJ (1999) The spatial economy. MIT Press, Cambridge
Glaeser EL (2011) Triumph of the city: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier. The Penguin Press, New York
Glaeser EL, Kallal HD, Scheinkman JA, Shleifer A (1992) Growth in cities. J Polit Econ 100(6):1126–1152
Glaeser EL, Kolko J, Saiz A (2001) Consumer city. J Econ Geograph 1(1):27–50
Hendrickson C, Muro M, Galston WA (2018) Countering the geography of discontent: strategies for left-behind places. Brookings, November. See: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018.11_Report_Countering-geography-of-discontent_Hendrickson-Muro-Galston.pdf
Krugman P (1991) Increasing returns and economic geography. J Polit Econ 99(3):483–499
Krugman P, Venables AJ (1995) Globalization and the inequality of nations. Q J Econ 110(4):857–880
Lakatos I (1970) Falsification and the methodology of scientific research programmes. In: Lakatos I, Musgrave A (eds) Criticism and the growth of knowledge. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 91–196
Los B, McCann P, Springford J, Thissen M (2017) The mismatch between local voting and the local economic consequences of Brexit. Reg Stud 51(5):786–799
McCann P (2005) Transport costs and new economic geography. J Econ Geograph 5(3):305–318
McCann P (2019) Perceptions of regional inequality and the geography of discontent: insights from the UK. Reg Stud. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1619928
MGI (2011) Urban world: mapping the economic power of cities. McKinsey Global Institute. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi/research/urbanization/urban_world
OECD (2009a) How regions grow: trends and analysis. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris
OECD (2009b) Regions matter: economic recovery, innovation and sustainable growth. Organisation for Economic Growth and Development, Paris
OECD (2011) Regional outlook 2011. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris
Porter ME (1990) The competitive advantage of nations. Free Press, New York
Putnam R (1993) Making democracy work: civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Putnam R (1996) Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster, New York
Redding SJ, Venables AJ (2004) Economic geography and international inequality. J Int Econ 62(1):53–82
Rodriguez-Pose A (2018) The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Camb J Reg Econ Soc 11:189–209
Shapiro JM (2006) Smart cities: quality of life, productivity, and the growth effects of human capital. Rev Econ Stat 88(2):324–335
Further Reading
Aghion P, Howitt P (1992) A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica 60:323–351
Boschma RA (2005) Proximity and innovation: a critical assessment. Reg Stud 39(1):61–74
Boschma RA, Iammarino S (2009) Related variety, trade linkages and regional growth. Econ Geogr 85(3):289–311
Fingleton B, Fischer MM (2010) Neoclassical theory versus new economic geography: competing explanations of cross-regional variation in economic development. Ann Reg Sci 44(3):467–491
Glaeser EL, Gottlieb JD (2009) The wealth of cities: agglomeration economies and spatial equilibrium in the United States. J Econ Lit 47(4):983–1028
Guimarães P, Figueiredo O, Woodward D (2007) Measuring the localization of economic activity: a parametric approach. J Reg Sci 47(4):753–774
McCann P (2007) Observational equivalence? Regional studies and regional science. Reg Stud 41(9):1209–1222
Saxenian A (1994) Regional advantage: culture and competition in silicon valley and route 128. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Shearmur R, Polèse M (2007) Do local factors explain local employment growth? Evidence from Canada, 1971–2001. Reg Stud 41(4):453–471
Stelder D (2005) Where do cities form? A geographical agglomeration model for Europe. J Reg Sci 45(4):657–679
Westlund H (2009) Regions and the knowledge economy. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
McCann, P. (2021). Schools of Thought on Economic Geography, Institutions, and Development. In: Fischer, M.M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_40
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-60722-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-60723-7
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences