Concise Introduction to Relational Economic Geography
Edward Elgar Publishing
Will be published approx. on 28. August 2026
Book
Hardback
188 pages
978-1-80220-497-1 (ISBN)
Description
Our Elgar Concise Introductions are inspiring and considered. They explain the key principles and are expertly written by some of the world's leading scholars. The aims of the series are two-fold: to pinpoint essential concepts and to offer insights that stimulate critical thinking.
This Concise Introduction develops a relational perspective on the organization and evolution of economies across space, outlining how and where firms and people thrive. It builds on assumptions that economic agency is embedded in institutional contexts, shaped by past decisions and inherently open-ended.
Key Features:
Links economic geography and regional economics with interdisciplinary fields, including business, management and sociology
Systematically investigates how economic agency and outcomes differ and connect at regional, national and global scales
Presents institutions, interaction, organization, innovation and evolution as basic categories of a symbiotic research design
Proposes that institutional contexts shape economic interaction within and between organizations, stimulating innovation
This innovative book is an essential resource for scholars and students of economics and finance, human geography and economic geography. Economic planners and practitioners will also benefit from its comprehensive insights and practical approach.
This Concise Introduction develops a relational perspective on the organization and evolution of economies across space, outlining how and where firms and people thrive. It builds on assumptions that economic agency is embedded in institutional contexts, shaped by past decisions and inherently open-ended.
Key Features:
Links economic geography and regional economics with interdisciplinary fields, including business, management and sociology
Systematically investigates how economic agency and outcomes differ and connect at regional, national and global scales
Presents institutions, interaction, organization, innovation and evolution as basic categories of a symbiotic research design
Proposes that institutional contexts shape economic interaction within and between organizations, stimulating innovation
This innovative book is an essential resource for scholars and students of economics and finance, human geography and economic geography. Economic planners and practitioners will also benefit from its comprehensive insights and practical approach.
Reviews / Votes
'This is a compelling and inspirational book which shows why relationships between people, firms and organizations are fundamental to understanding economic geography and spatially uneven development. Drawing on diverse contemporary examples, the authors show that we need a better understanding of the unfolding of economic spaces that starts and ends with a social and relational understanding of human behaviour and decision-making, in which institutional and historical contexts exert a profound influence.' -- Peter Sunley, University of Southampton, UK 'This is the first comprehensive explanation of the relational approach to economic geography. Bathelt and Glu?ckler successfully explain why the relational approach - contextuality, path dependency and contingency in connections - complements and enriches the economics of transactions and trade, the political science of interests, and the sociology of community versus society. All are ultimately also relational.' -- Michael Storper, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and London School of Economics, UKMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80220-497-1 (9781802204971)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Harald Bathelt, Professor of Economic Geography, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Canada and Johannes Glu?ckler, Professor and Chair of Economic Geographies of the Future, Department of Geography, LMU Munich, Germany
Content
Contents
PART I Foundations
1 What is a relational approach?
2 Location and strategy
PART II Interaction and institution
3 Markets and interaction
4 Institutions and economic change
PART III Organization
5 Production and organization
6 Firms and internationalization
PART I Foundations
1 What is a relational approach?
2 Location and strategy
PART II Interaction and institution
3 Markets and interaction
4 Institutions and economic change
PART III Organization
5 Production and organization
6 Firms and internationalization