Knowra Economic geography Economic geography Economic geography studies where economic activities occur and how location, distance, resources, institutions, and networks shape production, trade, and development.
Agglomeration economies : Cost and productivity advantages firms gain by locating near other firms, workers, suppliers, or customers. These advantages explain why firms and jobs cluster in particular cities and districts.
Spatial analysis : The examination of locations, spatial relationships, patterns, and processes using geographic concepts and methods. It supplies methods for identifying and explaining economic patterns across places.
Johann Heinrich von Thünen : A German economist whose nineteenth-century model explained agricultural land use around an isolated market. His model made transport costs and distance central to explaining land-use patterns.
Foreign direct investment : Investment by a firm or person in a business or productive assets located in another country. Its location choices reveal how firms weigh markets, costs, resources, and institutions.
Neoclassical location theory : An approach that explains location choices through optimization, costs, prices, and market equilibrium. It contrasts with accounts that emphasize power, institutions, or historical path dependence.
Central place theory : A model explaining the size, spacing, and service areas of settlements through the distribution of goods and services. It connects settlement patterns to the spatial reach of markets and services.
Location theory : The study of how firms, households, and activities choose among possible locations. It formalizes the location choices that economic geography investigates.
Alfred Weber : A German economist who developed an influential theory of industrial location based on transport and labor costs. His location model shaped early efforts to explain where manufacturing settles.
Special economic zone : A designated area where business and trade rules differ from those in the surrounding country. Zones are policy experiments that use place-specific rules to attract investment and trade.
Marxist geography : A geographic approach that analyzes how capitalism, class relations, and accumulation produce spatial patterns. It foregrounds social power and capital rather than treating location as a neutral market choice.
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