Geography 207 Economic Geography Professor William B Beyers

Geography 207 Economic Geography • • • Professor William B. Beyers Teaching Assistant: Spencer Cohen What is economic geography? What are its roots, and to what is it related? What are the goals for this course? What are the class requirements? What are the day-to-day mechanics?

Some key topics è Why locating businesses properly helps guarantee profitability è Why land use patterns arise in cities è Why regional economies grow or decline è How large, global corporations are reshaping the geography of production è How industrial systems are being reshaped by the information revolution è Why geography matters in economics!!

Economic Geography: Background • Roots of Modern Economic Geography – Von Humboldt - Cosmos – Environmental Determinism – Commercial Geography – The Quantitative Revolution & Theoretical Geography – Applied Geography, Including Business Geographics – Regional Science, Urban Planning, Business Administration including Marketing

Goals For This Course • A Comprehensive Survey of the Field • Some Hands-on Experience using materials covered in the text & lecture • An appreciation of how the materials we will cover are treated in more advanced courses and in related fields • Recognition of both theoretical principles and their real-world application.

Course Requirements: Mechanics • Two Midterm Examinations • Final Examination • The Examinations are based on the Textbook and the Lectures • Three Research Exercises • Participation in Discussion Sections • Lecture notes: Available as links off course web page, but not all the graphics.

Grades and Points Point Distribution - Tentative Exam 1 and Exam 2: 100 points each Final Exam: 100 or 150 points Research Exercises - 35 points each Grades: Class Median = UW Undergraduate Median = 3. 2

About Beyers • Seattle native, live in West Seattle, UW undergrad and Ph. D. graduate • Economic Geography is my field • Research Interests: – Service Economy; New Economy; Economic Trends in U. S. regions; Trends in the Rural West; Offshoring; Cultural Industries • Other: Active in Service, University Committees, Former Chair in Geography • Enjoy Teaching this Class Immensely.

This textbook • The World Economy – by Warf and Stutz • It is the 6 th Edition of this book • A major remodel (4 th Edition) published in 2005, with minor changes in the 5 th and 6 th Editions • Pearson/Prentice Hall spent $1 million on the graphics for the 4 th edition, and they have been revised for this edition • It is quite comprehensive • My ordering of our treatment of it will deviate somewhat from the chapter order • Additional learning resources are available from the publisher

My TA – Spencer Cohen • Ph. D. Candidate in Geography • Came to Geography from the Jackson School of International Studies • He has considerable research experience in international trade and economic development • His dissertation research is focused on economic development in China • I would like to ask him to speak about his interests and background

Chapter 1 Economic Geography: An Introduction • Geographic Perspectives • Five Analytical Themes for Approaching Economic Geography • Modes of Theorizing in Economic Geography • Capitalism • Economic Geography of the World Economy

Geographic Perspectives • Barney Warf’s Style: anything goes • The geographic perspective • Key Point: Why are activities located where they are? Space and time are interdependent • Economic space is highly unequal • Economic Geography as a field

Five Analytical Themes for Approaching Economic Geography • The study of space is inseparable from the study of time • Every place is part of a system of places • Human action always occurs in a biophysical environment • Culture-the shape of consciousness—is fundamental to economic geography • Social relations are a necessary starting point to understanding societies and geographies

Modes of Theorizing in Economic Geography • Location Theory – explaining why businesses, government, and households are located where they are in space • Locations create the basis for spatial interaction • Different types of models are used to “explain” behavior in space – homo economicus vs. behavioral vs. central planning • Political Economy • Post-structuralist Economic Geography

Capitalism • The dominant mode of production • Predominately private ownership of the means of production • The profit motive • Market divisions (Figure 1. 1)

The Capitalist System

Four Major Questions of the World Economy – Fig 1. 1 again • What should be produced, at what scale of output, and with what mix of inputs? • How should factors be combined? Labor, capital, resource factors, etc. • Where should production occur? • Who should get output? How should it be divided?

Economics – Key Topics • Allocation of Scarce Resources • Markets for Production, Distribution, and Consumption • The Division of Labor • Solving What, How, What Price, What Quantity, and Where Production Takes Place • Types of Economic Systems • Neoclassical versus Behavioral and Structural Approaches