This timely volume comprehensively summarizes the various approaches to research that have come to constitute contemporary economic geography. Expert assessments provide a lively sense of the research frontier making this essential reading for all who seek to understand and appreciate the field. This volume illustrates the profound significance for economic understanding of thinking about the 'economy' and the 'economic' geographically. It identifies critical stages in the development of economic geography, and focuses on the key themes and ideas that inform present thinking in the discipline.