Prof Michael Storper

This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Economic Geography, MSc in City Design and Social Science, MSc in Development Management, MSc in Development Management (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environment and Development) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Human Geography and Urban Studies (Research), MSc in Local Economic Development, MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po) and MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If the course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department’s discretion and a waiting list may be created. For further details, please contact your relevant Programme Coordinator.

The economic geography of globalization, and examination of some of the principal effects of globalization on economic development of cities, regions and nations. Theories of regional economic development, location, and trade are applied to the contemporary process known as "globalization", and used to decipher this phenomenon and its effects on development, employment, and political institutions. A number of major issues for regional and industrial policy are considered, including trade, convergence/divergence, corporate power, knowledge and technology, governance, and inter-place competition.

This course is delivered through a combination of lectures and workshops across Autumn Term.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6

Students will be expected to participate in group work in the workshop sessions that take place every two weeks,  using a combination of written presentations  with written presentation slides, interactive games, and other methods used.  

P Aghion; J G Williamson, Growth, Inequality and Globalization, Cambridge University Press, 1998;

S Brakman, H Garretsen; C van Marrewijk, The New Introduction to Geographical Economics, Cambridge University Press, 2009;

G Clark, M Gertler; M Feldman (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, 2000;

C Crouch, P Le Galès, C Trigilia; H Voelzkow (Ed), Local Production Systems in Europe: Rise or Demise?

Oxford University Press, 2001;

J H Dunning (Ed), Regions, Globalization and the Knowledge-Based Economy, Oxford University Press, 2000;

P Krugman; M Obstfeld, International Economics: Theory and Policy, Harper-Collins, 1991; A Scott (Ed), Global City Regions, Oxford University Press, 2000;

M Storper, The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy, Guilford Press, 1997.

A number of more specialised texts will be recommended at the beginning of the course.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the spring exam period.

The exam is organised as a set of essay questions that reflect the content of lectures and readings in the course.  Students are offered a choice of questions from which to select.   The questions are generally offered in two or three groups, where students will select one question from each group of offered questions.