ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a range of approaches to thinking about the evolution of Europe's economic space, probing their ability to combine theoretical coherence with empirical consistency. These include mainstream neoclassical analysis in the form of the neoclassical growth model, endogenous growth theory, systems models of cumulative causation, stochastic equilibrium and the work of mathematical geographers using complex systems analysis. These various approaches are characterized by different degrees of conformity to the dominant model of mainstream economics, the neoclassical orthodoxy. Neoclassical growth theory provides the basic pattern, with an emphasis, when adapted to the multi-economy situation, on diminishing returns and therefore the catching-up of faster growing initially poorer regions, albeit in the form of conditional convergence to different equilibrium levels of development. In the neoclassical tradition, the supply of factors of production is what determines output growth, but in less orthodox approaches, typically post-Keynesian analysis, demand is fundamental in eliciting growth and the supply of factors of production.
