University of Kiel, Germany Evolutionary Economic Geography, B.Sc. Geography

1. Lecture 1 - Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Evolutionary
Economic
Geography
Summer
Semester
2021
2nd lecture
27/04/2021

2. Recap of our first lecture
Overview of current paradigms of economic geography
Hassink & Gong, 2017

3. 1) 22-04: Introduction
2) 27-04: Evolutionary Economic Geography within Grand
Societal Challenges
3) 29-04: Industrial Dynamics, Clusters and Niches, Green-
Entrepreneurship and Socio-Economic Transformation of
Industrial Towns
4) 04-05: Path Development and Path Dependence, Lock-Ins,
Co-Production Processes of Transformation and Regional
Structural Change
Lectures, April, May, June 2021
Tuesday, 10:15 – 11:45 | Thursday, 10:15 – 11:45
> See OLAT for literature <
(Zoom)

4. Every week
Wednesday
16:00 - 18:00
Office hours via Zoom / reaching via email
Practicalities

5. Practicalities
Past lectures in
Video
(google drive)
‘Exploring and discussing current
contributions of (Evolutionary) Economic
Geography to the degrowth debate’
(by Lena Winkelmann)
“economic geography” AND “degrowth” = 671 results
“evolutionary economic geography” AND “economic degrowth” = 4 results
“evolutionary economic geography” AND “degrowth” = 49 results
“evolutionary economic geography” AND “degrowth” AND "examples“ = 30 results
Exact Match = “…”

6. I Part
 Evolutionary economic geography (EEG)
:::5’ Break:::
II Part
 Grand Societal Challenges
 Defining sustainable development (SD)
 Sustainable development goals (SDGs)
:::5’ Break:::
 SDG-EEG nexus approach (synergies and
trade-offs)
 Operationalization of the SDGs through
EEG
Today’s lecture
Collective
endeavor

7. Mid-1990s, by Paul Krugman, the Nobel Laureate, on the one
hand, and by Michael Porter, the business economist, on the
other, have “discovered geography”, and argued for the
importance of a geographical perspective for understanding the
dynamics and competitiveness of the economy: both have
emphasized the process of spatial agglomeration of economic
activity as a source of increasing returns.
e.g. Krugman as the ‘New Economic Geography’.
…from these theoretical developments > what emerges is the
appreciation of the importance of history in the economic
landscape or how that landscape evolves over time.
Evolutionary economic geography (EEG)
Boschma & Martin, 2010

8. Evolutionary economic geography
(e.g. Ron Boschma; after page 325 of Clark et al. 2018)
Unlike neoclassical theory (List, 2003), the school of evolutionary
economic thinking (Boschma & Lambooy, 1999; Dosi et al., 1988) takes history
and geography seriously by recognizing the importance of place-
specific elements and processes to explain both spatial patterns of
technology evolution and persistence in regional economic
inequalities.
Evolutionary economic geography (EEG)

9. Evolutionary economic geography (EEG)
As Boschma and Martin (2007) put it, evolutionary economic
geography is concerned with the
 Spatiality of economy > innovation processes, new firms,
new industries and new networks
 How the spatial structures of the economy emerge > from
the micro-behaviours of economic agents of individuals, firms
and organisations
 How the economic landscape exhibits self-organisation; and
 How the processes of path creation and path dependence
interact to shape geographies of economic development and
transformation, and why and how such processes may
themselves be place dependent.

10. The pedigree of theories of EG and related disciplines
(Hassink et al. 2014)
converse
Strong link
Engaged Pluralism = bring together the
different perspectives that enrich economic geography
(Barnes and Sheppard, 2010)
Role of
institutions/
power/agency
across scales

11. EEG > in practical terms
EEG examines and explains “the processes by which the economic
landscape – the spatial organisation of economic production, circulation,
exchange, distribution and consumption – is transformed from within over
time” (Boschma & Martin 2010; Hassink et al. 2009).
‘‘A path-dependent process or system is one whose outcome evolves as a
consequence of the process’s or system’s own history’’ (Martin and
Sunley, 2006, 399)
This spatial pattern is perceived as the outcome of
path-dependent, place-based historical processes.
The idea that the economic landscape does not tend
towards some (predefined) unique equilibrium state or
configuration, but is an open system that evolves in ways
shaped by its past development paths.

12. Economic geographers started to develop new concepts
based on evolutionary thinking, including:
From evolutionary economic thinking >
Evolutionary economic geography
 Generalized Darwinism (Essletzbichler and Rigby, 2010)
 Path dependency theory (Martin and Sunley, 2006)
 Complexity theory (Martin and Sunley, 2007)
 Geographical political economy (MacKinnon et al., 2009)
In common is a focus on historical processes that explain
the uneven development and
transformation of the economic landscape.
Improve
existing
theoretical
concepts

13.  Locational opportunity (Walker & Storper, 1991)
 Technology districts (Storper, 1992)
 Regional innovation systems (Cooke, 1992)
 Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (Malerba et al. 2020)
 Regional economic development (Frenken & Boschma, 2007)
 Old industrial areas or towns (Hassink, 2010)
 Cluster dynamics (Cooke & De Laurentis, 2010)
 Smart Specialisation Strategies (Asheim, 2019)
From evolutionary thinking >
Evolutionary economic geography
Improve existing theoretical concepts or design new ones

14. Central question >
Evolutionary economic geography
Why it is that some regional economies become locked
into development paths that lose dynamism, whilst other
regional economies seem able to avoid this danger?
(Martin and Sunley, 2006).

15. For example >
Evolutionary economic geography
Low-growth regions
Experienced a persistent lack
of growth. They are less-
developed or transition regions
(regions with a GDP per head up
to 90% of the EU average) that
did not converge to the EU
average between 2000 - 2013.
Source; EU Commission, 2017
≈ 83 million inhabitants
Low-income regions
Remain far below the EU
average GDP per capita. They
cover all regions with a GDP per
head below 50% of the EU
average in 2013.

16. Real places
Evolutionary Economic Geography applied at different
levels of aggregation
For us to understand development paths at the macro-level (e.g. region) we
certainly need to investigate the performance through time at micro-level
(firms)

17. Choices made in the past – technologies embodied in equipment
and product design, firm assets gained as well as patents or
specific competencies, or labour skills acquired through learning –
influence subsequent choices of method, designs, and practices.
Economic adjustment is a path-dependent process shaped by
organic and evolving structures:
• Industrial specialization policies
• Entrepreneurial and employment patterns
• Institutional and regulatory arrangements (Martin, 2010).
Path-dependence (a road map)
(Walker, 2000)
Micro
level
Macro
level

18. Path dependence > energy transition
The concept of ‘energy transitions’ is concerned with how
previous decisions influence future alternatives > describing
path-dependent influences on the process of change
to new energy systems, and persistence in the use of existing
systems (persistence in the use of fossil fuel in urban heating).
When the wind of change blows, some build walls, others build windmills. (Chinese proverb)

19. Path dependence and lock-in effect
A global fossil fuel economy maintained through both national
political alliances and continual active intervention by a network
of global firms that foster and cement those alliances in the
interest of maintaining their profit position.
These type of sectors are prone to lock-in and path dependency
but are largely geared to generate incremental innovations
and gradual change. (Boschma et al. 2017)
Counteracting grand societal challenges at stake

20. Overtourism through the lens of EEG

21. Recap today’s lecture
Boschma & Frenken, 2015
Evolutionary Economic Geography
To contribute to the understanding of topics in economic geography,
 why industries concentrate in space (micro-level),
 how networks evolve in space (meso-level),
 why some regions grow more than others (macro-level), and
 how regions move into green technologies (alternatives/disrupt)
Resilience
Simmie and Martin 2010
Transitions/energy/enviro.
Patchell and Hayter 2013
Governance
Foray 2015

22. The world at crossroads

23. Evolutionary Vis-à-vis Strategic thinking
Towards 2030 > 2050 > 2100

24. Setting the stage
Grand societal challenges, such as global
warming, land degradation, regional inequalities,
poverty traps can only be adequately dealt with
through > wide-ranging changes in technology,
production and consumption, and flexible forms
of territorial governance (a variety of sectors;
actors), that is, through innovation.
This poses huge challenges for policy-making
e.g. planning; regional innovation policies.
(Fagerberg et al. 2020)

25. Economic geography represents knowledge and
perspectives that are vital in a globalized world to
take responsible decisions as well as to solve
societal problems. If economic geography is not
represented as a discipline, important
knowledge will be gradually lost, which implies
that the spatial dimension of the economy and
society would not be represented in teaching
and research, as well as in policy decisions.
Asheim (2020)
Setting the stage: why EG?

26. Between 2005 and 2017, the EU was directly
responsible, via products it imported (global supply
chains – key concept of EEG), for 3.5 million hectares
of deforestation.
=
According to a new report from World Wildlife Fund titled "Deforestation Fronts:
Drivers and Responses in a Changing World."
Policy decision = fostering societal challenges
Setting the stage

27. ‘Does my morning coffee consumption
have impacts on the world’s forests?’
Setting the stage
Nicolas Roux International Trade Land Environment 2021 (Video)

28. If we want healthy food Rethinking supply chains
Enjoy clean water/air quality
Accelerate energy
transition strategies
Addressing Grand Societal Challenges
through Evolutionary Economic Geography

29. We lack agency, decision-making capacity > yet we can play
our part in the process (e.g. behavior as consumers)
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source

30. Health, demographic change and
wellbeing
Grand Societal Challenges
Food security, sustainable
agriculture and forestry, marine
and maritime and inland water
research, and the Bioeconomy
Clean and energy
Efficient societies
(Europe 2020)
Green and
integrated transportation
Planning housing accessibility
and affordability

31. Climate action, environment,
resource efficiency and raw
materials
Grand Societal Challenges
Inclusive, diverse, innovative and
reflective societies
Secure societies –
protecting freedom of expression
and security of citizens
(Europe 2020)
Global migration patterns

32. Grand Societal Challenges and EG
(Westkämper, 2014)

33. Grand Societal Challenges and EG
(Westkämper, 2014)

34. Several research avenues to explore
Societal
Challenges
Evolutionary Economic
Geography
Innovation Policy for Grand Challenges
(Coenen et al. 2015)
Requires a broader perspective that is not
only concerned with structural failures in
innovation systems and related policies
(in connection to capabilities, networks and
a limited set of institutional factors).
More attention should be directed to
analyses and policies targeting system
transformation and the “failures”
associated with such transformative
shifts in production and consumption.
Environmental evolutionary
economic geography (Patchell et
al. 2013)
Ultimately the case for
evolutionary economic
geographies is to ensure that
economic geographic
perspectives are fully incorporated
in debates over the co-evolution
of economy and environment, in
research and policy terms one of, if
not the, central challenges of
development in the 21st century.

35. Economy and Environment:
current debates

36. EEG > Addressing negative Challenges
This plea recognizes that integrating
economy and environment is a central co-
evolutionary challenge of the 21st century.
Although economy and environment have
been treated as distinctive issues they are
interdependent within places / across scales.
Economic geographers have key roles to play
in understanding these interdependencies
and developing frameworks supporting
sustainable development. (Huber, 2010)

37. Key framework to achieve
sustainable development?
Partly address the negative side of societal challenges

38. Climate change and environmental degradation practices have increased
the risk of:
Humanity is on a dangerous trajectory
Extreme weather events
Food system failures
Biodiversity loss, and
Geopolitical instability.
Humanity must change its practices, quickly and
strategically. A sustainability transition leveraging the
efforts of private companies, governments, and civil society
actors — i.e., non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
community organizations, philanthropic foundations, academia,
trade unions, etc. — is required. (Lambin et al. 2020)

39. Towards the future > a sustainable future

40. Defining sustainable development (SD)

41. Transition towards sustainable practices, whether large or
small, can have significant impacts in the long run.

42. Defining sustainable development (SD)
1983-87: Brundtland Commission
Economic development at the cost of
ecological health and social equity did not
lead to long-lasting prosperity.
It was clear that the world needed to find
a way to harmonize ecology with
prosperity.
After four years, the “Brundtland
Commission” released its final report,
Our Common Future.
It famously defines sustainable
development as:
(Source, 1987)

43. Defining sustainable development (SD)
to meet the needs and aspirations of the
present without compromising the ability to
meet those of the future.
recognizes that societal challenges of poverty
and uneven development cannot be solved
unless we have a new era of growth in which
developing countries play a large role and reap
large benefits.
(Source, 1987)

44. Objectives of SD
(Elliott, 2012)

45. Some consider that there is none so relevant a discipline
as geography to contribute to the sustainable
development debates given its ability to marry the
science of the environment with an understanding of
economic, political, and cultural change, that is,
development.
Multi, Intra and Transdisciplinary SD
Sustainable development is multidisciplinary concept in
its nature and is covered by various bodies of sciences.
(Elliott, 2012)
(Jabareen, 2011)
Greater intra-disciplinary work, including between
geographers is considered essential for understanding and
engaging in the challenges of SD and society.
(Elliott, 2009)

46. SD + SDGs + EG + EEG

47. Justification
(Oliveira and Hersperger, 2018; Huber, 2010)
…understanding the processes that drive climate change requires
attention to the “denaturalized” geographies of – economic activities
– transportation, energy, and industrial production.
These geographies are not “given”, but emerged within power
relations, political relationships, historical trajectories, and cultural
ideologies…We simply need to begin to (re)read the line of reasoning
to see such relationships as worthy of nature-society analysis.

48. Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals
27 September 2015, UN member states will
formally adopt the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as key
elements of the post-2015 development
agenda, successors to the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
Source
Agenda 2030 is an action plan for
people, planet and prosperity.
It also seeks to strengthen universal peace.
Shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path
Detailed objectives of Agenda 2030

49. Agenda 2030 > action plan for people and planet
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets
::People::
end poverty and hunger
fulfil their potential in dignity and equality
::Planet::
protect the planet from degradation,
including through sustainable consumption and production
::Prosperity::
human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives and
that economic, social and technological progress occurs in
harmony with nature.
::Peace::
foster peaceful, just and inclusive societies which are free
from fear and violence – respect towards labour force.
::Partnership::
focused on the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable
and with the participation of all countries, all stakeholders
(economic players) and all people.

50. 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets
https://sdgs.un.org/goals

51. Synergies
Progress in one goal favours progress in another
Trade-offs
Progress in one goal hinders progress in another
(Liu et al. 2018)
By identifying synergies and trade-offs, nexus approaches can help
enhance sustainability pathways through promoting higher resource use
efficiency (Biswas et al. 2008), lower production of pollutants and wastes,
and more coherent policy (Amon et al, 2015).
Nexus approaches can help uncover synergies and detect harmful trade-
offs among different sectors, scales and regions, reveal unexpected
consequences and promote integrated planning, decision-making,
governance and management.
Nexus (about connections, Latin = to connect)
approaches to sustainable development

52. Nexus (about connections, Latin = to connect)
approaches to sustainable development
(Liu et al. 2018)
approach can influence
the achievement of all
SDGs directly or
indirectly by
strengthening
synergies, reducing
trade-offs and creating
cascading effects
beyond food, energy
and water sectors.
The food–
energy–
water nexus

53. Six transformations that capture much of the global, regional,
and local dynamics and thus encompass major drivers of
future changes within society and economic landscape
The World in 2050 initiative

54. SDG-EEG nexus approach
(synergies and trade-offs)
Evolutionary Economic Geography towards SDGs
Dematerialization of production and consumption > de-growth
Re-oriented lifestyles (e.g. consumption patterns)
Re-regionalization of production systems > place-based
strategies
Cooperative, non-profit oriented business strategies
Sustainability oriented economic, innovation and energy policies
Global and regional distributive justice and pro-poor growth
Going beyond GDP > Use of alternative wealth indicators
Focused on slow innovation > valuing endogenous resources
(Krueger Schulz and Gibbs 2018) (Shearmur and Doloreux, 2016)

55. SDG-EEG nexus approach: synergies
Spatial organization
New interfirm networks > decrease of natural
resource consumption
Implementing new mobility patterns and
rethinking related environmental impacts >
changes in production organization
Rethinking regional capital accumulation > less
resource intensive transportation
More employment opportunities, emergence of
local trust-based networks and other non-market
cooperation > profits reinvested locally
Newly emerging markets and
production systems, global diffusion of
innovations (make patents common goods)
Improving capital allocation
Incorporating spatial externalities
Investing in local- and regional-based value
chains of financial products > investing in local
Progress Favours

56. Target 1.5
Target 11.A
Progress Hinders
SDG-EEG nexus approach: Trade-offs
SDG-EG nexus
More industrial investment > can increase the
exposure and vulnerability to climate related
extreme events and other economic and social
shocks
COVID-19 as example > implementing World
Health Organization Frameworks > is positive for
Goal 3 but could pave the way > for lower
productivity and reduce employment
opportunities
Environmental management practices or
conservation strategies > can hinder a fair
implementation of spatial plans, sectorial plans
or spatial organization of economic activities
which often impacts more vulnerable people
169 targets click here
Target 8.5

57. Lecture 1 - Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
 Sustainable start-ups: how their business and climate performance relates?
 From local to global production networks: in what ways are the transformation
processes in industrial towns related to endogenous or exogenous development
dynamics?
 From fast-pace to slow innovation: to what extent can we use the concepts of
slow innovation to explain the diverse trajectories of sustainable transformation
of industrial areas (towns; cities; regions > real places)?
 Economic growth (SDG 8) – Climate Action (SDG 13) nexus: how to overcome the
trade-offs between strategies to attract business with environmental
sustainability principles?
 Prosperous v.s. lagging regions: How lagging regions that are focused on valuing
their unique and distinctive assets can thrive and shape their own sustainable
development paths?
 Global goals, local actions: how small- or medium-size towns can play a decisive
role in operationalizing some of the SDGs?
Operationalization of the SDGs through EEG

58. Lecture 1 - Introduction: economic geography and its recent paradigms
Thank you
Questions?
See you on 29-04 (Thursday): Industrial
Dynamics, Clusters and Niches, Green-
Entrepreneurship, Talent Attraction and
Socio-Economic Transformation of Industrial
Towns (OLAT / Zoom)