ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses recent developments in three ways of thinking about industry. Begining with neoclassical theories, founded on assumptions of locational adjustment for profit maximisation. This is followed by a section on behavioural theories of industrial decision-making, covered in the literature by what is often termed 'the geography of enterprise'. The more recent structuralist approach uses the dialectic between labour and capital as the conceptual approach to decision-making. A conceptual approach to any subject, including industrial geography, requires an effective methodology to support it. Neoclassical location theory in industrial geography is based upon assumptions of economic rationality amongst entrepreneurs who seek an optimal location defined in terms of a single criterion, or on the basis of trade-offs between several criteria. The behavioural approach to decision-making within enterprises on issues relating not only to location but also to pricing, product development, markets and production processes developed initially in the United States in the 1960s.
