ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY - EPOS (English)
The course will start on Tuesday, 27th September 2022, at 10 am, in the room "Laboratorio formazione avanzata", Faculty of Economics, fifth floor, "Economic geography" corridor, room 520.
OBJECTIVES
The course aims to provide students the theoretical, methodological and technical tools needed to understand the spatial and geographical organization of the economy. It will mainly focus on the following themes: regional development and regional inequality; the spatiality of local and global economic networks and business clusters; the relation between knowledge, innovation, technology and geographical space; regional development and innovation policies. The course presents the most recent advancements in the field of economic geography and it will draw upon the contribution of related disciplines: spatial and urban economics, regional science and spatial statistics. In the labs, participants will be introduced to digital cartography, geographical information systems, the management and analysis of spatial data and mapping.
PROGRAMME
1. Regional development and sociospatial inequalities: dimensions, measurements, causes, consequences and implications.
2. Agglomeration economies. Regional growth convergence and divergence. Regional development policies. Place-based vs. spatially-blind approaches.
3. Post-Fordism, flexible specialization and new industrial spaces. Transaction costs theory and space. Marshallian industrial districts and business clusters.
4. The non-economic foundations of economic development. Institutionalism and geography. Social capital. New economic sociology. New regionalism. Local development.
5. Regional innovation systems. High-tech clusters.Tacit knowledge and face-to-face contacts. Creativity and cities. Knowledge spill-overs. Relational and evolutionary perspectives.
6. The global organization of firms networks. Transnational corporations and their regional effects. Global value chains and global production networks.
7. Digital cartography and spatial data analysis (Lab): introduction to ArcGIS, spatial data, georeferencing, queries and joins, autocorrelation and clustering indexes, mapping.
The course will include taught classes and laboratories, only in presence.
EVALUATION: Written. Students will be asked to reflect upon and to answer to 2-3 questions, and to provide - for each question - a brief description of the underlying issue, suggestions about relevant themes, theories and authors, examples of illustratives cases, and the implications in terms of, on the one hand, research methods and, on the other hand, regional policies or strategies. For students attending to the spatial data lab, the exam will include a practical excercise of spatial data analysis and mapping.
SYLLABUS
ATTENDING STUDENTS, a selection of:
1. Regional disparities: Storper M (2018) Separate worlds? Explaining the current wave of regional economic polarization. Journal of Economic Geography (download).
2. Agglomeration economies: Puga D (2010) The magnitude and causes of agglomeration economies. Journal of regional science (download).
3, Polarized development (Myrdal, Perroux, Krugman): Meardon S J (2001) Modeling agglomeration and dispersion in city and country. American Journal of Economics and Sociology (download).
4. Post-Fordism and flexible specialization: Hirst P & Zeitlin J (1991) Flexible specialization versus post-Fordism. Economy and Society (download).
5. Marshallian industrial districts: Markusen A (1996) Sticky places in slippery space: A typology of industrial districts. Economic Geography (download).
6. Business clusters: Martin R, Sunley P (2003) Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea? Journal of Economic Geography (download).
7. Institutional economic geography: Martin R (2000) Institutional approaches in economic geography. In: A companion to economic geography, Blackwell (download).
8. High-tech clusters: Saxenian A (1996) Inside-out: regional networks and industrial adaptation in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cityscape (download).
9. Tacit knowledge: Storper M, Venables A J (2004) Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy. Journal of Economic Geography (download).
10. Creativity and urban development: Florida R (2003) Cities and the creative class. City & community (download).
11. Knowledge spill-overs: Boschma R (2005) Proximity and innovation: A critical assessment. Regional Studies (download).
12. Global value chains: Gereffi G et al (2005) The Governance of Global Value Chains. Review of International Political Economy (download).
13. Urban economics in and after the pandemic: Florida R, Rodríguez-Pose A & Storper M (2021) Cities in a post-COVID world. Urban Studies (download).
14. Global value chains in and after the pandemic: Magableh GM (2021) Supply chains and the COVID‐19 pandemic: A comprehensive framework. European Management Review (download).
NON ATTENDING STUDENTS
1. Pike A, Rodríguez-Pose A, Tomaney J (2016) Local and regional development. Routledge, 2nd edition: Section 2.1 (pages 18-39) and Chapter 3 (pages 60-150).
2. Dicken P (2015) Global shift: Mapping the changing contours of the world economy. Guilford Press, 7th edition: Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5, 8.
3. Fotheringham A S, Rogerson P A (2008) The SAGE handbook of spatial analysis. Sage: Chapters 6 and 7.
WHEN: From September 27th to December 21st 2022, on:
- Monday 10-12 am
- Tuesday 10-12 am
- Wednesday 4-6 pm
- Monday 10-12 am
- Tuesday 10-12 am
- Wednesday 4-6 pm
WHERE: Room "Laboratorio di formazione avanzata", Faculty of Economics, 5th Floor, "Economic Geography" corridor, Room 520.
EXAMS 2023: January 10th, February 7th, April 18th (extraordinary exam), June 6th, July 7th, September 9th, November 7th (extraordinary exam).
Materiale didattico:
