Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) explores the drivers and the consequences of processes through which local economies and the spatial organization of economic activities are transformed over time. The creation of knowledge, and its development and diffusion, are closely linked to the spatial evolution of the economy and to the role of ‘place’ in economic dynamics. In the literature, a prominent role has long been attributed to the localized nature of knowledge spillovers resulting in place-specific outcomes whereby the process of creative destruction is driven, as well as constrained, by evolutionary trajectories.
Innovation depends arguably more than other economic activities on the characteristics of localised knowledge. While our understanding of fundamental aspects of regional growth and structural transformation is increasing rapidly due to progress in both theoretical modelling, methods and data, some important questions remain unanswered. For example, what are the processes that shape evolutionary trajectories at the intersection of various scales and scopes that consider regional-, industry, and firm-networks in a coherent analytical framework. In this regard, advances spatial econometric approaches and network analysis techniques have come to the forefront of methodological tools used to tackle these and related questions in this line of inquiry.
Further progress is needed in order to unravel and gain further insights into the complex relationship between the spatial patterns of knowledge creation and use, regional economic dynamics and the local-global nexus shaping contemporary competitive processes. Given that innovation is a fundamental driver of economic prosperity the investigation of the determinants of the uneven geographical distribution of innovative activities is now a core topic in EEG. In these uncertain times, and in the face of formidable societal challenges, evolutionary scholars are especially well-placed to debate on the direction, co-determinants, and key actors responsible for regional economic transformation, resilience, and equitable and sustainable growth.
In this regard, under this theme the conference welcomes submissions on several topics, including but not limited to the following: