Economic Geographies of Industrial Change: Shifts in Location, Interregional Specialization, and Global Connectivity

Abstract Industrial and geographical dynamics are interrelated. This chapter focuses on how scholars in the field of economic geography analyse the spatial dynamics of industrial change. Whereas traditional approaches have analysed industrial change through static and cyclical frameworks, contemporary theory endorses the evolutionary and institutional nature of the spatial processes that characterizes industrial dynamics. These processes range from local agglomeration and specialization to global connectivity and interdependence regarding particular divisions of labour in production and trade. The comparative case studies on global stock photography and the effect of Brexit on financial services in Europe are used to assess whether and how seemingly disruptive changes, such as digital technology or political and regulatory reforms, transform the underlying economic geographies of these industries. The almost unpredictable nature of industrial change underscores the need for context-sensitive, path-dependent, and contingent relational approaches to capture current industrial shifts due to globalization, digitization, sustainabilization, and servitization.

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