London School of
Economics and Political Science (LSE)
Modules
45
Economic geography
This syllabus is
designed to introduce students to the basic principles of economic geography.
In a spatial context it draws upon many of the fundamentals of economics
which have been covered in the introductory economics syllabus. Studies
of specific examples of agricultural types, manufactured products, and
services will be particularly helpful throughout.
Changing perspectives
on the location of economic activity: Theories of economic change
and theories of location. Systems in economic geography. De-industrialisation.
Tertiarisation. The changing world economy and the internationalisation
of economic activity. Government intervention in location decision making.
Resources and
the factors of production: Resource scarcity and resource use.
Production cost variations in land, labour and capital. The role of
technological change.
Spatial organisation
of agricultural production: Classical models of the location of
agricultural land uses (economic rent). Social and cultural factors
in agriculture. Location and land use decision making under conditions
of uncertainty.
The location
of manufacturing industry: Normative models of industrial location
(cost minimisation and demand maximisation). Agglomeration economies.
Transportation and freight rates. Behavioural theories of location.
The spatial organisation of business. Structural approaches to understanding
the location of economic activity. Spatial divisions of labour.
The evolution
of the service economy: Classical models of market centres and
retail distribution. Central place theory and the urban hierarchy. Concepts
of market potential. The nature and role of producer services.
Global shift:
patterns and processes: The globalisation via transnational corporations.
Theories of international trade. Accounting for internationalisation
through technological change, circuits of capital, the new international
division of labour, competition and comparative advantage, foreign investment
and state economic policies.
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