The future of economic geography in Germany. Structural changes in the German system of higher education exert increasing pressure on geography as an academic discipline. This paper discusses these forces of change from the viewpoint of a university manager before evaluating the resulting impacts and challenges for economic geography. It is argued that to survive in an increasingly competitive academic environment, the discipline needs to strengthen its profile and focus on its core competencies. Rather than following the route of a “cultural turn” or building walls to separate economic geography from economics, the author argues for a closer collaboration with economists in both research and teaching.
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