Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.21861/hgg.2011.73.01.03
The Institutional Approach in Economic Geography: an Applicative View
Simon Kušar
orcid.org/0000-0002-0074-3539
; Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
The institutional approach in economic geography developed as part of a broader cultural shift in economic geography in the 1990s. It highlights the importance of formal and informal institutions, technology, institutional embeddedness, and historical lock-in for understanding how development takes place in regions. Although these institutional theoretical concepts have been used primarily for explaining interregional differences in economic development, they soon became interesting as a theoretical basis for the development of innovative concepts in regional planning and policy. This article presents the applicative value of the institutional approach in economic geography in the field of regional planning and development. Further on, practical lessons are presented from a case study of the location of a greenfield investment by Carthago in Odranci near Murska Sobota, Slovenia. Finally, selected limitations of the institutional approach in regional planning are discussed.
Keywords
economic geography; institutionalism; regional planning; regional development; Slovenia
Hrčak ID:
71447
URI
Publication date:
1.8.2011.
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