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Regional Development: How Convention Theory Explains Economic Development

Kenkichi Nagao & Junya Tatemi (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. Despite the notion that “The world is flat,” “The world is curved” with uneven geographical development. Why does contemporary capitalism simultaneously or paradoxically exhibit trends of globalization and localization? Why do economic wealth and opportunities differ across regions? The economics and sociology of conventions (in short EC/SC) provide a perspective on understanding the dynamics of regional development. The contributions of EC/SC to regional studies are fourfold. First, this approach integrates economic and noneconomic factors to explain linkages and coordination between actors. Second, it indicates that regions are the fundamental unit of economic life that contribute to the dynamics of capitalism but are not just an outcome of the maximization of individual behaviors. Third, this approach extends valuation perspectives on regional studies to examine the dynamics of industrial changes by penetrating different subjects, from coordination to market construction. Furthermore, through the concept of the “power of valuation,” regional studies with the EC/SC perspective have revealed uneven geographical development. Shifts in research from focusing on “traded interdependencies” on interfirm linkages to “untraded interdependencies” on actors’ relationships have caused a broader trend of “relational turn” in the field of economic geography and regional studies. This chapter presents findings obtained using a realistic approach based on EC/SC to examine the “black box” in regional development studies.

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Convention Theory as a New Analytical Framework for Geographical Phenomena

Philippe Vidal (2024)

In Rainer Diaz-Bone & Guillemette de Larquier (eds.), Handbook of economics and sociology of conventions. Cham: Springer, Online first

Abstract. This chapter demonstrates the effectiveness of the theoretical apparatus of the economics and sociology of conventions (EC/CS) in the analysis of territorial phenomena. The chapter has a double purpose. First, it is addressed to geographers and spatial planners. The aim is to show that the convention approach allows them to better understand the dynamics of territorial actors. Reading territorial problems through the prism of convention theory makes it possible to analyze potential blockages and reveal frameworks of agreement. These frameworks may be the result of rather unstable compromises when several convention-based regimes coexist in the same territory, and it is therefore of utmost interest to study them in order to shed light on the interplay of actors at work. Looking at the dynamics of conventions helps to identify, in a given socio-spatial context, which conventions are losing ground and which are gaining ground. This dynamic reading of situations, once transferred to practitioners, can illuminate their choices in terms of strategic options for territorial development. The second plea is for EC/CS scholars to consider space in a more comprehensive and reflexive way. The contribution of geography is obviously territorial. Geography can make it possible to territorialize conventions, that is, to anchor them in a context that goes far beyond a simplistic vision of space. It’s about working with space, not just looking at it from its geographical boundaries. In this way, a stronger integration of geographic and urban planning thinking into the research programs of the EC/CS will be promoted.

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