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Path Dependence and the Spatial Economy: Putting History in Its Place

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Handbook of Regional Science

Abstract

The concept of path dependence has rapidly assumed the status of a “fundamental principle” in the new paradigm of evolutionary economic geography that has emerged over the past few years. This chapter reviews the interpretation and use of this concept within this new field. The dominant interpretation has been that of “lock-in,” by self-reinforcing mechanisms, of particular (equilibrium) patterns of industrial location and regional specialization. This model is somewhat restrictive, however, and does not capture the full repertoire of ongoing path-dependent evolutionary trajectories that can be observed in the economic landscape. To respond to this limitation and drawing on both revisionary approaches to path dependence in political science and historical sociology and advances in the field of evolutionary economic geography, the chapter suggests a “developmental–evolutionary” model of path dependence that includes “lock-in” as a special case, but which is also more general in its application and relevance.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Ron Martin

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  1. Ron Martin
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Correspondence to Ron Martin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Manfred M. Fischer

  2. Free University Faculty of Economics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Nijkamp

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Martin, R. (2021). Path Dependence and the Spatial Economy: Putting History in Its Place. In: Fischer, M.M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_34

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