THE GEOGRAPHY OF INTERNATIONAL-TRADE

In this article I review the geographical literature on international trade since 1980. There has been reinvigorated attention in this subject recently. Unfortunately, the current geography of international trade is no more than the sum of many individual studies. Few researchers have been able to specify an overall comprehensive framework. Remedying such a serious omission, this article reviews research on the geography of international trade in order to specify the constituent elements of a comprehensive theory. I argue that an unmodified theory of comparative advantage is deficient and more attention needs to be given to the roles of government and firms in shaping comparative advantage. Therefore, I outline the connection among trade, governments' trade policies (strategic, regional and their political environments) and firms that forge intraindustry and intracorporate linkages. Such a perspective shifts attention away from traditional consumers and more towards the role of firms as consumers, government involvement in the trade area and lays out the essential elements for a theoretically informed approach.