Economic Geography

Changing approaches and concerns 
of economic geographers
Approaches
From quantitative to qualitative methods
Over the last 20 years or so there has
been some shift in emphasis amongst economic geographers (as amongst geog-
raphers generally) from application of quantitative to qualitative methods. This has
occurred at a time when the availability of spatially-referenced data (from census,
survey and administrative sources) of relevance to labour market studies has increased
and the capacity and capability of computers and Geographical Information Systems
(GIS) technologies to process and analyse such data has improved. Yet, arguably,
knowledge of the existence, strengths and shortcomings of many data sources
amongst many economic geographers remains underdeveloped. Quantitative, qual-
itative and, perhaps especially, mixed methods have an important role to play in
geographical research, with the utilisation of qualitative alongside quantitative
methods enabling rich insights to be gleaned into the operation of local labour
markets. It is arguable that the pendulum perhaps swung too far in favour of

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qualitative methods, with concerns expressed by the Economic and Social
Research Council (ESRC) about a lack of methodological rigour among the new
generation of social scientists (quoted in Keylock and Dorling 2004).
From empiricism to theory
Alongside the shift noted above, has been another
important (and related) one from empiricism to theory. From the late 1980s,
there has also been a shift in the relative importance of theoretical perspectives
employed by geographers in local labour market studies (for a useful brief
overview of theoretical perspectives see Martin and Morrison 2003), which in
turn underlies the shift away from large-scale empirical studies towards more critical
perspectives. The previously dominant competitive market perspective has been to
some extent superseded by the imperfect market perspective, which emphasises
heterogeneity by recognising the existence of a geographical mosaic of non-
competing and segmented sub-markets and structural disequilibrium. Economic
geographers have also increasingly adopted an institutionalist perspective empha-
sising local labour markets as socially embedded institutional spaces of formal and
informal customs, norms and practices underpinning employment, work and
wages, with some adopting a regulationist perspective (with the local labour
market as a site of socio-political regulation). Hence, Peck (1989, 1996) called
for attention to be focused on ways in which particular local intersections of
labour supply, labour demand and state regulatory infrastructure are revealed in
the form of different concrete outcomes in different places.
Increasing emphasis on social and cultural issues
The shift towards enhanced
emphasis on social and cultural issues evident in economic geography is part of
a more pervasive trend in geography. As highlighted by Bauder (2001: 42),
economic geographers have drawn on the concept of place to define not only the
economic and political, but also the social circumstances that influence the spatial
division of labour (as highlighted by Massey 1984 and Peck 1996). In turn,
conceptualisations of place from social geography have also contributed to
understandings of divisions in the labour market. The overall effect is to empha-
sise the social embeddedness of economic activity, the role of social relations in
shaping economic interactions, the proactive role of place in labour market
segmentation and the place contingent operation of local labour markets.
Towards more detailed disaggregation
As highlighted by the imperfect market
perspective, ‘the (local) labour market’ suggests a unity absent. The geographical
subdivision of labour markets has long been recognised (Goodman 1970), with,
in any one local area, a multiplicity of sub-markets (characterised by varying
degrees of permeability) demarcated by various criteria. Economic geographers
have taken an increasing interest in how labour market geographies vary between
different people in different places, and between different people in the same
place. Conventionally, local labour market areas have been defined on the basis of
aggregate commuting flows, but as more data and computing power have become
available, there have been attempts to define such areas for different population 
Labour market geographies
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sub-groups (Coombes et al. 1988). However, perhaps foremost in the trend
towards more detailed disaggregation has been the increasing attention focused
on gender as exemplified by the seminal work of Hanson and Pratt (1991, 1995),
which explored how differences between men’s and women’s experiences of work
are grounded, and constituted in and through space.
The role of geography and geographers
Study of labour market geographies is not
the unique preserve of geographers. Economists, sociologists and anthropologists,
amongst others, have always had an interest in the role of space, and one senses
a trend towards rediscovery of the importance of geography amongst other disci-
plines, at a time when, arguably, for geographers space has moved from centre
stage to supporting role. Indeed, it is often not possible to identify easily the
disciplinary background of those contributing to the analyses of local and
regional labour markets. Often, the richest environments for research are at the
boundaries of disciplines: hence, a vogue for multi- and inter-disciplinary studies
of labour markets. For geographers such environments have proved tempting,
and for some such forays have meant ‘weighing anchor’ from geography. As a
result, it would seem that some ‘geographers’ are losing their identity – at least 
in the eyes of non-geographers with a traditional view of geographers being
centrally concerned with space (and with maps – as exemplified by Dorling and
Thomas 2004). Whether, if true, this matters for economic geography and geogra-
phy more generally is another question.