The Relational Economy

Harald Bathelt is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he holds the Senior Canada Research Chair in Innovation and Governance. He received his PhD and Habilitation (post-doctoral degree) at the University of Giessen, Germany. Previously he was Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Frankfurt/Main, Germany (1998-2002) and the University of Marburg, Germany (2002-2006). His research interests are in the areas of industrial and economic geography, political economy, and methodology, and he has published on topics such as relational economic geography, knowledge-based conceptions of clusters, local buzz and global pipelines, temporary clusters, innovation systems, and socio-economic impacts of regional and industrial change. He has published books on North American high-technology industries (1991), the German chemical industry (1997), and a textbook on economic geography (2003, with Johannes Glückler).Johannes Glückler is Professor of Economic and Social Geography and Research Fellow at the Marsilius Center for Advanced Study, the University of Heidelberg. He received his PhD at the University of Frankfurt in 2004. Before joining the University of Heidelberg, he was Professor of Economic Geography at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (2006 through 2008). He is Visiting Professor at the University of Salamanca, Spain. His research interests are in the areas of economic geography, social networks, and service industries. Johannes Glückler has published on theories of firm internationalization, urban clustering, the evolution of social networks, and the geography of knowledge. Apart from co-authoring a textbook on economic geography (2003, with Harald Bathelt), he has written books on spatial concepts in human geography (1999) and knowledge-based business services (2004). Recently, he co-edited a volume on conceptual debates in economic geography (2006).

Overall, I found the book valuable.Many parts are useful to a wide variety of readers, including students. I recommend it highly to social scientists not 'up' on the relevant theory, and for instructors looking for introductory material. However, one can get a lot out of the book by reading selectively, partly because the authors' range is so broad, partly because so much of their exposition (outside the case studies) is fairly routine summary of literature, and partly because their writing is tedious.The long list of references makes the book a good one to keep on a shelf, especially as many works cited are in lesser-known (to the typical regional scientist) journals, including ones in business, marketing, management, organization, and the like. Journal of Regional Science

• PART I: FOUNDATIONS OF RELATIONAL THINKING; PART II: RELATIONAL CLUSTERS OF KNOWLEDGE; PART III: KNOWLEDGE CIRCULATION ACROSS TERRITORIES; PART IV: TOWARD A RELATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY?