Enriching the micro perspective in evolutionary economic geography: skill relatedness and the mobility of heterogeneous workers

Zoltán Elekes and Emelie Hane-Weijman

Chapter 13 in Handbook of Labour Mobility, 2026, pp 203-223 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Labour mobility plays a central role in shaping local economies. Substantial contributions have been made in the Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) literature to understand the dynamics and geographies of local economies. A key contribution of EEG research has been the emphasis on both the supply of work and the demand for workers, raising questions about skill matching. Building on this tradition, the aim of this chapter is twofold. First, we aim to summarize the contributions on labour mobilities and skill relatedness made by EEG. Second, we argue that the micro perspective in EEG could be enriched by focusing more on the heterogeneity of workers with respect to, for instance, gender, age or ethnicity. We then outline a future research agenda within EEG that is more attentive to the diversity of workers by exploring (1) the assortativity of skill relatedness networks, (2) the bounded mobilities of workers and (3) dimensions of proximity beyond the cognitive.

Keywords: Labour Mobility; Skill Relatedness; Local Labour Markets; Spatial Division of Labour; Skill Mismatch; Worker Heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035331680
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