economic geography

Geographic

2022

We explain what economic geography is and what is its object of study. In addition, its branches of study and other characteristics.

Economic geography studies the relationships between production, consumption and geographic location.

What is economic geography?

Economic geography is a branch of the human geography which focuses its study on the relationship between the dynamics of production and consumption own of the economy, and the geographical places where they take place.

In other words, it tries to cross the economic activity with the geographical location in order to be able, among other things, to analyze where the certain economic activities are located and why.

The economic geography approach is based on the idea that consumers we are mobile and goods are generally produced in one location. However, there are transport dynamics that take the material they require to consume it to certain market niches.

That is, he is interested in displacements own geographical areas productive process, whether at the national, regional or global level. Also pay attention to the different economic systems that exist.

It is a social science vast and transdisciplinary perspectives. Its origins date back to the 15th century and the time of the expansion of the great European empires, interested in the mapping and the knowledge the world, and especially the location of the natural resources available.

The first formal book of economic geography was Handbook for Commercial Geography ("Manual for Commercial Geography") by the British George Chisholm, published in 1889. As well as other branches of the geographySince 1970, this discipline has resurfaced and moved away from its initial deterministic perspectives, thus allowing the emergence of more current knowledge.

Object of study of economic geography

The subjects of study of economic geography can be extremely diverse, as is the complexity of the economic circuit in the world. However, we can summarize them in:

  • The mode of interrelation between the environment and economic activity.
  • The expansion and distribution of industry in the various regions of the globe.
  • Specific trends in Commerce national and International Trade.
  • The economies of populations human, organized according to ethnicity, religion, etc.
  • The patterns of transport, telecommunications and exchange of goods and services.

Characteristics of economic geography

Economic geography pursues a multidisciplinary perspective, which aspires to face complex phenomena of the economy and societies, always from the spatial perspective. His fundamental concern is the distribution of economic activities in the land surface, and the way it influences other human areas.

For this reason, location, flow (transport) and demographic organization are very recurring elements in their analysisas well as models mathematicians and statistics that make it possible to make visible the historical, political and cultural trends of the geoeconomy.

Branches of economic geography

Behavioral economic geography studies how economic decisions are made.

Economic geography is subdivided into the following branches:

  • Historical economic geography. As its name indicates, it raises its knowledge based on a synchronous gaze, that is, gradually throughout the passage of the weather, to detail how geoeconomic configurations evolve or where they originate.
  • Theoretical economic geography. Via descriptions and explanations, this sub-branch tries to find Models that allow a better understanding of the economic dynamics in the geographical space, always tending towards abstraction and the general.
  • Critical economic geography. Part of the application of economic theories, philosophical Y sociological in the study of geoeconomics, to thus obtain conclusions that allow predictions, interpretations or building points of view.
  • Behavioral economic geography. It enters into economic activities from the behavior of societies, that is, from the decision making of the persons and its reasonings in the face of economic dynamics. It has nothing to do with him behaviorism psychological, despite its name.

Importance of economic geography

In a world globalized and diverse as the contemporary one, economic geography is one of the main scientific tools to face the complicated flow of raw Materials, industrial assets, capitals and all the international economic actors on the planet.

In addition, it offers the ideal perspective to understand the modes of economic and commercial exploitation undertaken by the state, always influenced by its geographical location and its positioning within the economic blocks, political, financial and socio-cultural in which the world is divided and organized.

Auxiliary Sciences of Economic Geography

Economic geography is not a discipline closed in itself, but often collaborates with and draws on other social sciences and other branches of geography itself, which are mainly:

  • The economy. To identify and study the productive processes and the satisfaction of human needs;
  • The history. When it comes to understanding the economic evolution of the world and the way in which socio-economic and socio-cultural trends are structured over time;
  • Demographics. To use the population analysis and the constitution of both individual and collective consumption;
  • Politics. Useful in addressing the dynamics of can of humanity, the main causes of any social and geographical configuration;
  • Earth sciences. To understand where, how and why are the resources (raw materials, for example) in the various regions of the planet.
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