econgeog6

Topic 6:

Economic Geography

Introduction |Goals | Notes on Readings |Outline Notes |Links to Other Resources

Introduction

Systems of making a living: subsistence, market, planned. World distribution of economic systems. Agriculture: variations among systems in different world regions. Von Thunen theory of agricultural location. Location of economic activities in each system. World economic systems: specialization, comparative advantage, interdependence, trade, movement of capital to low wage regions. Characteristics of developed core and developing semi-periphery and periphery of the world. The "rich" fast north vs. the "poor" slow south.

Goals

The goals for this section of the course are:

to understand how people earn their living

to understand that livelihood systems vary spatially

to know how economic activities are interrelated and linked in a global economic system

to understand world patterns in economic development and characteristics of nations at different levels of development

Notes on Readings
You may wish to re-read parts of Chapter 1 pp 26-31 just to review key concepts related to spatial interaction, specialization, and diffusion, economies of scale, and complementarity. Chapter 7 builds on these ideas and establishes patterns (uneven!) of world economic processes. The framework is core-periphery, so you should review those concepts from pp 54 to 78. Pay special attention to the changes in technology systems and how they have changed relationships in global economies and resource use over time. Chapter 8 focuses on agriculture as an economic activity. Be sure you understand both traditional and agro-industrial agriculture. Chapter 10 pp 405-412 examines systems of cities. It is appropriate to read this section along with economic geography because of the close relationship between economic development and urbanization. Pay close attention to the theory of central place which explains much of the regularity in spatial relations we see. The rank-size rule (and primacy) is another concept that helps us to understand why things are the way they are. Note the importance of world cities explained on page 411. It is all about agglomeration effects!

Outline Notes

The notes for this section of the course appear on this Word doc. Please remember, they are the barest outline of material covered in class. They are simply a reference, not a substitute for attending class and taking notes from the lecture. Feel free to format them, fill them in to include class comments, etc.

Links to Other Resources

The Economist is a respected world resource for news on the global market. The home page for Economic Geography contains a number of resources you might find useful. Yale University hosts an excellent website focused on an balanced analysis of globalization and economic issues.

Course Topics | Assignment Schedule

Human Geography Home Page

Introduction	Systems of making a living: subsistence, market, planned. World distribution of economic systems. Agriculture: variations among systems in different world regions. Von Thunen theory of agricultural location. Location of economic activities in each system. World economic systems: specialization, comparative advantage, interdependence, trade, movement of capital to low wage regions. Characteristics of developed core and developing semi-periphery and periphery of the world. The "rich" fast north vs. the "poor" slow south.
Goals	The goals for this section of the course are: to understand how people earn their living to understand that livelihood systems vary spatially to know how economic activities are interrelated and linked in a global economic system to understand world patterns in economic development and characteristics of nations at different levels of development
Notes on Readings	You may wish to re-read parts of Chapter 1 pp 26-31 just to review key concepts related to spatial interaction, specialization, and diffusion, economies of scale, and complementarity. Chapter 7 builds on these ideas and establishes patterns (uneven!) of world economic processes. The framework is core-periphery, so you should review those concepts from pp 54 to 78. Pay special attention to the changes in technology systems and how they have changed relationships in global economies and resource use over time. Chapter 8 focuses on agriculture as an economic activity. Be sure you understand both traditional and agro-industrial agriculture. Chapter 10 pp 405-412 examines systems of cities. It is appropriate to read this section along with economic geography because of the close relationship between economic development and urbanization. Pay close attention to the theory of central place which explains much of the regularity in spatial relations we see. The rank-size rule (and primacy) is another concept that helps us to understand why things are the way they are. Note the importance of world cities explained on page 411. It is all about agglomeration effects!
Outline Notes	The notes for this section of the course appear on this Word doc. Please remember, they are the barest outline of material covered in class. They are simply a reference, not a substitute for attending class and taking notes from the lecture. Feel free to format them, fill them in to include class comments, etc.
Links to Other Resources	The Economist is a respected world resource for news on the global market. The home page for Economic Geography contains a number of resources you might find useful. Yale University hosts an excellent website focused on an balanced analysis of globalization and economic issues.