ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the geography of e-commerce. All over the world the internet is reshaping supply chains, product cycles, and corporate strategies, and has given rise to behemoths such as Amazon. The chapter explores various forms and business models of e-commerce, its links to the gig economy (e.g., Uber) and the rise of the “winner-take-all” economy, in which large firms gain via their economy of scale. But e-commerce has diffused unevenly across the planet’s surface; in the U.S. its role is limited compared to that in China. The chapter also focuses on the role of tax regimes in shaping this geography as well as the logistics involved. The chapter then turns to how e-commerce has affected local economic landscapes, including retail trade, and concludes by looking at the impacts on rural areas.
