Papers on international economic geography 1
On the Curriculum Reform of Economic Geography for International Trade Specialty
First, the basic situation of economic geography course
At present, the major of international trade in Guangxi higher vocational colleges aims at serving the economic development of the Pan-Beibu Gulf region, and through the innovation of the educational model of cooperation between industry and learning and the combination of work and study, it has made great contributions to China? The first-line system of ASEAN economy cultivates high-skilled applied talents with knowledge of international economy and trade, professional quality, strong practical skills, innovative spirit and professional accomplishment. As a basic course of international trade major in higher vocational colleges, economic geography is conducive to deepening students' understanding of the social and economic development of countries and regions around the world, being familiar with the prevailing international trade rules and practices, and improving their knowledge structure more comprehensively, systematically and pertinently.
Economic geography is a comprehensive discipline, which not only teaches the systematic knowledge of natural environment, human environment, natural resources and social resources, but also introduces the concept of economic environment, expounds the development of international and regional economic and political patterns, and makes geographical science research and economic theory research complement each other. In order to better meet the demand of economic development for talents in higher vocational colleges, enable students to master the basic knowledge and general laws of economic geography, learn to use economic thinking to analyze and solve economic geography problems, and strengthen the cultivation of students' creative thinking and ability, higher vocational colleges have specially set up economic geography courses in international trade specialty. Its teaching content has both breadth and depth, which is in line with the current international and regional economic construction reality.
Second, the main characteristics of economic geography course
First, it covers a wide range and the course is comprehensive. The course of economic geography involves geography, international trade, international relations, international political economy and international economic cooperation. Therefore, when students of this major study this course, they need to establish an overview of multidisciplinary basic theories, and better understand and master the course content under the premise of comprehensive thinking.
Second, it is practical and aims at improving students' professional level. The course of Economic Geography aims to cultivate and enhance the international trade ability of students majoring in international trade, provide practical knowledge and theories of various economic regions, and enable students to apply relevant theories and knowledge to practice. Through course study, students' knowledge can be further broadened, the depth of knowledge structure can be increased, the thinking of comprehensively looking at and solving problems can be formed, and the ability to analyze various economic behavior effects in the process of economic globalization and regional economic integration can be cultivated and strengthened.
Third, the problems existing in the course of economic geography
At present, the comprehensiveness of economic discipline and the comprehensive quality in practice have been paid attention to, and the economic geography course has been gradually opened in Guangxi higher vocational colleges. However, with the development of teaching practice, some problems have gradually emerged.
(A) the lack of targeted teaching materials
First of all, most of the textbooks used at this stage are geographical overviews, and the perspective of analyzing problems is mainly based on the statement of geographical knowledge, which is less combined with economic theoretical knowledge; Secondly, the unscientific content of teaching materials and unreasonable knowledge structure lead to weak teaching practice links, unclear and unsystematic teaching practice tasks, no clear objectives and practical measures, and a set of implementation plans for cultivating students' practical ability of economic geography has not yet been formed. Finally, the knowledge module of the textbook is more repetitive with related courses, and the same content is more repetitive in the general discussion and sub-discussion of the textbook. Repeated study by students not only wastes valuable time, but also easily leads to weariness.
(B) single teaching conditions and methods
Economic geography belongs to a comprehensive discipline. In the allocation of teachers, the number of teachers who have both economic concepts and knowledge and solid geographical knowledge is small, so they can only choose one of them as teachers, and teachers can't grasp the depth and breadth of the course well. In teaching methods, how to use more? Cramming at the last minute? The main teaching mode is a single teaching method.
(C) students do not pay enough attention
Due to the lack of targeted teaching materials, insufficient teachers and single teaching methods, students' understanding of the course of economic geography is low, and it is easy to lose interest and motivation in learning; Some students simply understand the content of the subject literally, and unilaterally think that this is a simple geography course, thus ignoring the study of the course.
Third, the teaching reform of economic geography.
(A clear teaching ideas, reset the course teaching
1. Reasonable orientation of teaching philosophy.
Economic geography, as a professional basic course of international trade major in higher vocational colleges, has the characteristics of basic theory, comprehensive intersection, typical regionality and practical application. The basic theory requires us to actively absorb the new achievements of discipline development and actively learn from the latest theories of related disciplines; The interdisciplinary nature requires us to learn from the theoretical research methods of history, psychology, management, sociology, anthropology, folklore, ecology and other disciplines; Typical areas require us to actively enrich and improve teaching contents, means and methods according to the reality of economic and social development in specific areas, so as to organically combine curriculum teaching with economic industry and further enhance the pertinence and application of teaching. The course of economic geography, like the courses of international trade practice and international trade theory, is the basic knowledge of international trade specialty, so we should pay attention to it and arrange the teaching reasonably, instead of simply studying it as a remedial class or an interest class.
2. Optimize teaching materials and teaching resources.
As a comprehensive course, economic geography can't simply use geographical environment overview, economic environment overview or realistic documentary works as teaching materials. Teachers majoring in economics and geography should jointly develop new textbooks to meet the needs of teaching in this discipline. At the same time, we should pay attention to selecting comprehensive talents with good economic theory and practical experience and rich humanistic quality and scientific knowledge to teach.
3. Enrich the teaching content.
Students majoring in international trade need to learn the application of international trade, international relations, international political economy and international economic cooperation throughout the course. Therefore, the teaching of economic geography requires teachers to skillfully introduce the above related theories while telling the knowledge of natural environment and human environment, so that students can grasp the teaching content more deeply.
(B) combined with a variety of means to strengthen curriculum teaching
The cultivation of geographical knowledge can increase the depth of knowledge, and economic thinking can strengthen the ability to analyze and deal with problems. High-quality economic geography education can make students form good thinking quality, critical thinking ability and creative quality, and make them look at things more comprehensively and objectively. Therefore, teachers should strengthen teaching through various means.
1. Consolidate basic knowledge through teaching.
Teaching method is a way for teachers to systematically impart knowledge to students through oral language, such as telling, explaining and reading aloud. This teaching method has the advantages of high information transmission density, high efficiency for students to accept knowledge and strong teaching controllability. At the same time, through the analysis of the development of the world economy and the teaching of related basic theories, teachers can use teaching methods to convey to students the basic theories of international political economy such as economic globalization and regional economic integration, so as to help students study better.
2. Enrich knowledge carriers with multimedia teaching.
Through the hardware conditions of multimedia classrooms and the software conditions such as video, audio and courseware, students are stimulated by their pictures, shapes, sounds and colors, creating conditions for their perception, understanding and memory. For example, when introducing the geographical knowledge of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, the TV documentary "Drinking a River Together" filmed by CCTV is introduced, so that students can have a more intuitive understanding of the humanities and products in this area. When talking about complex traffic routes, 3D images can be introduced to more vividly reflect many geographical things and phenomena such as traffic routes and place names, so that students can see at a glance.
3. Promote curriculum interaction through case practice.
The starting point of case teaching is to stimulate students' individual interest and motivation in inquiry, and the scenarios created by cases suitable for teaching content can stimulate students' thirst for knowledge and actively seek answers. International trade is a complex economic activity, involving laws, regulations and practices. There are many classic cases for analysis and reference. In the teaching of specialized courses, typical cases can be cited for detailed analysis to deepen students' understanding of theoretical knowledge and guide students to integrate theory with practice.
4. Use experiential teaching method to guide students' practice.
International trade industry has a strong practical operation, and relying solely on book theoretical knowledge and traditional multimedia teaching methods is far from reflecting the characteristics of this industry. Therefore, in teaching methods, we should pay attention to experiential teaching methods to ensure that students can effectively stimulate their interest in learning and improve teaching effect through role-playing and group cooperation while mastering theoretical knowledge. Since 2004, China? The ASEAN Expo settled in Nanning, Guangxi, which not only vigorously developed regional economic and trade exchanges, but also provided practical projects for students' practice. Teachers can guide students to personally participate in the Expo, study ASEAN countries and ASEAN Economic and Trade Zone through the practice of various projects, and further grasp the concepts of regional economic development and economic globalization in a series of real cases. At the same time, the practice in the teaching process can also comprehensively and objectively reflect students' mastery of economic geography knowledge and ability.
refer to
Lv Hong. Discussion on the present situation and countermeasures of economic geography teaching [J]. Educational Science, 20 1 1( 12)
[2] Cunming Liu. Keep pace with the times and expand new ideas of economic geography teaching in China [J]. Occupation and education, 20 1 1(7)
[3] Chen Hui. China? Practice and Reflection on the Process of ASEAN Free Trade Area [J]. South China Today, 2009(6)
Papers on International Economic Geography II
New Economic Geography and International Trade
At the end of the 20th century, economic geography attracted more and more economists' attention. Economists, represented by Krugman, broke the national boundaries in traditional international economics, and discussed the effects of increasing returns to scale, externalities and comparative advantages on the industrial location distribution from the perspective of location. This paper summarizes the main achievements of new economic geography in recent years, and emphatically analyzes the development and application of new economic geography in international trade theory.
Keywords: new economic geography, correlation, cohesion
First, the main theoretical basis of new economic geography
1, new trade theory
The traditional trade theory was developed by ricardian model under the condition of complete competition and constant factors. It is believed that the relative abundance of factors is the fundamental reason for international division of labor and trade, and countries with different resource endowments will produce and exchange different products. Traditional trade theory can only explain the commodity trade between countries with different resource endowments, but it has lost its theoretical significance for intra-industry trade. The new trade theory is developed on the basis of imperfect competition to explain intra-industry trade, which has made a new breakthrough on the basis of traditional trade theory: the division of labor and specialized production between countries is to make use of their increasing income; Moreover, the division of labor is influenced by historical conditions to a certain extent. Path dependence? Sex; Due to imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale, countries can formulate strategic trade policies, create comparative advantages and change the specialization model.
2. Location theory
1826 feng? Von Tunin put forward the famous circular layout theory in his masterpiece Isolated Country, which laid the foundation of location theory. 100 years later, after inheriting and developing Feng? On the basis of Durham's theory, Christaller (1933) and Leahy (Los Ch, 1940) put forward? Central location theory? . But Harris (1954) and Prade (Pred, 1966) have the greatest influence on the new economic geography. Harris (1954) thinks that manufacturers will choose to set up factories near the market. To illustrate this problem, he used? Market potential index? To measure the proximity of American counties to the market, the index is actually a weighted average of the purchasing power of the market near each county, and its weight depends on the distance between the region and the market, which is inversely proportional to the distance. The results show that the industrial clusters in the United States have high market potential, and the agglomeration of production can strengthen itself. Manufacturers choose areas close to the market for production; But at the same time, the area close to the market is also the area that other manufacturers will choose. Praed (1966) pays attention to the dynamic changes of regional economic growth, and he adopts? Cardinal multiplier Analytical methods. He believes that the share of income used for local expenditure is not fixed, but depends on the size of the local market. Therefore, with the economic growth of the region, the market will be large enough to support an efficient large enterprise, thus making it profitable to provide a wider range of goods and services locally, and so on, which will start the accumulation process of regional economic growth.
3. Economies of scale and externalities
The biggest difference between new economic geography and traditional economic geography lies in the introduction of economies of scale. Therefore, to understand the new economic geography, we must start with economies of scale and externalities, among which Marshall model has the greatest influence. The model holds that economies of scale are external and caused by specialized division of labor. Marshall believes that there are three different reasons for the concentration of manufacturers: first, the concentration of manufacturers has formed the concentration and enjoyment of the labor market; Secondly, the concentration of industry can reduce the acquisition cost of input; Finally, concentration will also bring technology spillover. Marshall's externality theory was used by Krugman to explain the motivation of industrial localization, which was gradually accepted by later generations. Therefore, we can find in many articles of new economic geography that the so-called forward correlation and backward correlation are extensions of this externality theory.
Second, the basic theory of new economic geography
Krugman (199 1) tried for the first time to explain the viewpoints put forward by Harris and Praed with economic model. He established a simplest two-zone model with DS method. In this model, there are only two industries: agriculture and manufacturing. The scale return of agriculture is constant, while the scale return of manufacturing industry is increasing. Agricultural products have no trade costs, while trade in manufactured goods has transportation costs. In order to simplify the model, he divided the factors of production into farmers specializing in agricultural production and workers specializing in manufacturing production, and restricted farmers from moving freely between the two regions, while workers were the elements that could move freely.
What should be suffered in the process of equilibrium formation? Centripetal force? And then what? Centrifugal force? The influence of. ? Centripetal force? The force that directs the manufacturing industry to concentrate in a region is similar to the external economy. The centripetal force mainly comes from the interaction of economies of scale, transportation costs and factor mobility. Simply put, the existence of economies of scale and transportation costs makes manufacturers always want to gather near the market and suppliers for production; But at the same time, places close to the market and suppliers are also places that other manufacturers choose. Such a continuous cycle process has created the economy? Focus? Phenomenon. And then what? Centrifugal force? It is the forces that prevent manufacturers from getting together, such as geographical restrictions on agricultural production.
When the transportation cost is high, there is little inter-regional trade, and the income of workers mainly depends on local competition. As the number of workers increases, the income decreases. The equilibrium at this time is that the manufacturing population is evenly distributed in two regions. When transportation costs are low, typical manufacturers will sell their products in two regions; But if it is located in a densely populated area, it will be closer to the market, so it can also provide higher wages; Conversely, because workers are close to the market, their wages can be converted into high purchasing power. Therefore, in the case of low transportation costs, real wages will increase with the increase of population. At this time, the concentration of production in either region is balanced, because workers will not have the motivation to leave. In addition, the average distribution of population in the two regions is also a kind of equilibrium, so there are three possible equilibria when the transportation cost is low. When the transportation cost is moderate, centrifugal force and centripetal force are equal.
If there is a big difference between the two regions, centripetal force is dominant; When the conditions in two areas are similar, centrifugal force is dominant. Therefore, there are five possible equilibrium states of transportation cost. Can all equilibria exist stably? The answer is no, when there is a high transportation cost in the economy, there is only one equilibrium-the manufacturing industry is evenly distributed between the two regions; If the transportation cost is gradually reduced, the economy will reach a critical state, and the equilibrium of symmetrical distribution will no longer be stable. As long as the manufacturing industry in a certain area grows a little, almost all the manufacturing industries will be concentrated in this area, and finally this area will become a manufacturing industry? Center? . This spontaneous adjustment process of economy may only depend on a very accidental historical event, but history is not all the factors that play a role. To a certain extent, people's expectations will also affect the direction of the economy. Krugman analyzed the influence of history and expectation on equilibrium. He pointed out that which plays a decisive role, history or expectation, depends on three parameters: discount rate, external economic influence and the speed of adjustment. If the discount rate is large, the external economic role is small or the adjustment speed is slow, history will play a decisive role. Krugman's theory left a guidepost for economists. Although the later research introduced new elements, its basic structure and modeling method were greatly influenced by him.
Third, new economic geography and international trade.
At present, the research of new economic geography can be divided into two directions. On the one hand, it studies the formation and development of cities with regional economics and urban economics as the main objectives; On the other hand, international economists, represented by Krugman and venables, are committed to introducing new economic geography models into the study of international trade, analyzing the causes of differences among countries, the impact of agglomeration on the economy and so on.
1, basic model
With the acceleration of globalization, the boundary between international economics and regional economics is becoming more and more blurred. However, the model of Krugman and venables (1995) is really used to illustrate international trade. This economic geography model based on Krugman (1980) and Ishir (1982) is different from the traditional international trade model and Krugman's model (199 1). In order to reflect the differences between countries and regions, the model cancels the assumption of labor mobility and increases the trade of intermediate goods. In this way, what leads to the centralized distribution of industrial activities is no longer the connection between manufacturers and workers, nor between manufacturers and consumers, but between manufacturers. This relationship is further interpreted as cost correlation and demand correlation. Other things being equal, if a region has a large manufacturing sector, it can provide a large market for intermediate products, which makes the region attract more manufacturers. This is the so-called demand correlation (its meaning is similar to backward correlation). On the other hand, if this region can produce more intermediate products, the production cost of the final products in this region will be lower than that in other places, which is cost correlation (its meaning is similar to positive correlation). These two connections make more and more manufacturers gather in this region. When the transportation cost is reduced to a certain extent, the world economy will spontaneously form an industrial distribution centered on manufacturing and surrounded by non-industrialized areas.
They further explained that if the manufacturing industry is large enough, it will also cause wage differences between countries. Forward correlation and backward correlation increase the demand for labor in industrialized areas, while the gradual decline of industries in other areas will reduce the demand for labor in this area. In this way, the real wages in manufacturing centers will rise, but not in industrial peripheral areas, and global economic integration will lead to uneven development. However, if the transportation cost continues to decline, manufacturers will gradually lose the advantages of forward correlation and backward correlation brought by being close to the market and suppliers. At the same time, the peripheral non-industrialized areas have lower production costs due to lower wage rates. When the transportation cost is low enough, the low-cost advantage of the peripheral areas will be enough to offset the inconvenience caused by being far away from the market and suppliers. At this time, manufacturers will move out of the central area and produce in the peripheral areas, thus gradually narrowing the wage gap between the central area and the peripheral areas. Therefore, with the gradual improvement of trade liberalization, the wage gap between countries has experienced a process from small to large and then to small.
Krugman and venables (1995) adopted a more extreme model, showing us a world without national boundaries-regions are no longer separable intermittent values, but completely continuous. They think, one? Flat world? -A world where all products and elements are evenly distributed is unstable even if it exists. If the distribution of labor force changes slightly, the whole world will spontaneously form a center-periphery structure with a certain scale and a certain distance. In such a structure, what will be caused by the change of parameters? Intermittent balance? In other words, once the regional specialization structure is established, it will continue to exist for a certain period of time even if the conditions in the economy change. However, when the conditions change to a certain critical value, the specialized structure will become unstable, resulting in another economic geographical structure.
2. Focus and economic growth
Krugman and venables (1995) took the first step towards international trade in economic geography and built a bridge between industrial agglomeration and international trade. This article was regarded by later scholars as a milestone in the development of economic geography in international trade. Pug and venables (Puga &; Venables, 1996) further deepened the multi-industry equilibrium and put forward the influence of agglomeration on economic growth. From the perspective of industrialization, they analyzed the pulling effect of industrial agglomeration on the world economy. They regard the development of manufacturing industry as the driving force of gathering, and are no longer limited to the reduction of transportation costs. We already know that the interaction among imperfect competition, transportation cost and input-output correlation will stimulate manufacturers to produce near the market and suppliers. Moreover, this agglomeration has improved the industrialization of some countries, and at the same time, it has higher wages. If the manufacturing industry in industrialized countries continues to expand, the wages in that country will be too high, which will stimulate manufacturers to move from that country to the non-industrialized periphery for production. If the industry continues to expand, peripheral countries will gradually become industrialized countries, and then manufacturers will continue to move to more backward countries. This process is repeated, and industrialization, like a wave, gradually spreads from central countries to peripheral countries. In different industries, industries with weak correlation, industries in the upstream position or industries with weak labor intensity will be adjusted first in the diffusion of industrialization, and then spread to other industries.
Baldwin & ampForskild (1997) also proposed a new geographical and trade model with the help of the analysis method of endogenous growth theory. The circular causality in this model involves not the flow of elements, but the accumulation of elements. Countries with big markets tend to invest more, and these investments further expand their markets.
3. Trade policy and economic welfare
The new trade theory holds that the increase of unilateral trade barriers will help reduce the price of domestic products in this country. Baldwin (1999) reached the same conclusion by using the model with agglomeration force, and pointed out that the existence of agglomeration force strengthened the price reduction effect of trade protection. However, this effect is the result of a series of simplified assumptions. Although the unilateral trade protection policy can promote the development of domestic industrialization in the sense of increasing the share of domestic industrial production, it will not happen under any circumstances, which requires certain conditions. In fact, trade liberalization can also promote the development of industrialization. Pug and venables (1997) studied the possibility of trade liberalization promoting industrialization for the first time, pointing out that although unilateral free trade policy and import subsidy are close in attracting foreign investment, the former can produce higher economic welfare.
Baldwin and Fosreed (2002) analyzed the economic impact of free trade agreements in detail. They pointed out that global economic liberalization is beneficial to big countries, but not to small countries. In the process of multilateral liberalization, the smallest country loses all industries first. With the advancement of liberalization, other countries have also become? Edge? Country. When trade is completely liberalized, all industries will be concentrated in the country with the largest market. If the trade barriers between these countries are removed, a big market will be formed, which will cause investment creation and investment transfer effects. The establishment of free trade agreements will increase the real income of residents in member countries and harm the economic interests of non-member countries. The formation of trade groups will also have a self-reinforcing effect, which will lead to a? Domino? Effect, leading to trade liberalization gradually spread to the world.
Geography and trade are inseparable, and new economic geography has opened a door for the study of trade theory, and introduced the location analysis method. And what about the work of economists in this area? Ask more questions than answers? . But more importantly, economists have begun to realize the importance of geography and apply it to the model.
refer to
Fujita Masahisa and Paul? Krugman and Anthony? j？ Venables, translated by Liang Qi: Spatial Economics ―― Cities, Regions and International Trade [M]. Renmin University of China Press, 2005.
[2] Paul? Krugman, Zhang Yi. : Trade and Geography [M]. Peking University Publishing House, 2000.
[3] Ann Hu Sen: Classical Principles of Space [M]. Economic Science Press, 2005.
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