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Schools of Thought on Economic Geography, Institutions, and Development

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Handbook of Regional Science

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Abstract

This chapter reviews some of major thematic approaches which have characterized urban and regional research over recent decades. Three broad schools of research are discussed, namely, the new economic geography, the new urban agenda, and the evolutionary and institutional school. The major assumptions underlying each of the schools of thought are outlined, and the broad areas of agreement and disagreement between the three schools of thought are highlighted. The changing economic realities on the ground in many regions, whereby the previously dominant large cities are no longer the key drivers of economic growth, pose major conceptual, analytical, and empirical challenges to all three of these schools of thought, schools which had emerged precisely during the period when major cities were reemerging as the drivers of growth.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Sheffield Management School, Sheffield, UK

    Philip McCann

Authors
  1. Philip McCann
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Correspondence to Philip McCann .

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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McCann, P. (2021). Schools of Thought on Economic Geography, Institutions, and Development. In: Fischer, M.M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-60723-7_40

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