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Environmental Economic Geography
Author(s) -
Hayter Roger
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geography compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.587
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 1749-8198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00115.x
Subject(s) - mandate , institutionalism , sustainability , reciprocal , value (mathematics) , resource (disambiguation) , political science , sociology , economic system , economic geography , economics , ecology , politics , computer network , linguistics , philosophy , machine learning , computer science , law , biology
This article advocates evolutionary institutionalism as a conceptual platform to launch a systematic approach to environmental economic geography. Evolutionary institutionalism interprets industrial transitions through the lens of innovative behaviour that is shaped by reciprocal economic and non‐economic processes and periodically restructures economies in the form of new techno‐economic paradigms (TEP). In this approach, environment–economy relations need not be zero‐sum games, as is often assumed. Rather, as a result of innovation and choice, these relations have been recalibrated historically and can be redefined again towards developing a green TEP in which development and sustainability are co‐imperatives. It is argued that the mandate of environmental economic geography is to assess and prescribe how place makes and should make a difference to a green TEP and the article sketches a research agenda to promote this goal. This research agenda focuses on the themes of regions as institutions, remapping resource use and sustainable value chains.