(Granovetter, 1973). However, research that takes into account global spillovers is still scarce
(Jaffe and Trajtenberg, 1999). In this light, the contributions by Jacob and Los (forthcoming) and
Maggioni and Uberti (forthcoming) are especially important.
The ‘big question’ regarding the unequal distribution of wealth among nations needs to be
addressed more often and more systematically. An evolutionary economic geography may
provide a new understanding of core-periphery patterns at different spatial scales as evolutionary
outcomes of path-dependent dynamics. Such an approach would combine the Schumpeterian
analysis of structure change with the spatial process of agglomeration and global networking.
However, evolutionary growth theory (as does growth theory more generally) still lacks an
explicit spatial structure. A challenge ahead is to transform evolutionary growth theory into a
theory explaining the evolution of uneven distribution of economic activities in space.
In all, recent research, including the chapters in this volume, has shown the value added of an
evolutionary approach in economic geography. An evolutionary economic geography aims to
improve our theoretical and empirical understanding of the economy as an evolutionary process
that unfolds in space and time. Starting from the seminal contribution by Nelson and Winter
(1982) and its theoretical elaborations in subsequent works (Dosi et al., 1988; Dopfer, 2005), a
number of frameworks are being developed that specifically deal with geographical issues,
including location theory and entrepreneurship, the spatial evolution of sectors, the geography of
social networks, the evolution of spatial systems, and urban and regional planning.
Methodologically, a variety of approaches are being pursued ranging from case-study research
and social network analysis to duration models and spatial econometrics. Theoretically coherent
and methodologically open, an evolutionary perspective is helpful in understanding the specific
histories of firms and regions using a framework that is less restrictive than the neoclassical
paradigm, yet more generally applicable than the institutionalist approach. It is time to take
geography seriously in applied evolutionary economics.
20