ECONOMIES AND TERRITORIES
FROM THE HISTORY OF ECONOMICS PERSPECTIVE
22nd Annual STOREP Conference, June 12-14, 2025
Università degli Studi del Molise
Dipartimento di Bioscienze e Territorio, via Duca degli Abruzzi 67, 86039 Termoli (CB)
Background and rationale
Recent events, from the 2020 pandemic crisis to growing geopolitical instability, accompanied by trade tensions across countries, are prompting a re-evaluation of the spatial and regional dimensions of economic activities. Phenomena such as reshoring, nearshoring, friends-shoring, and the re-discovery of national borders are contemporary examples of Adam Smith’s invisible hand, which ‘encouraged’ merchants to keep their capital at home for greater security, thereby advancing, according to Smith’s metaphor, both their own interests and the public good.
Conflicts, political tensions, and climate change challenges are reshaping the global economy with relevant implications for regional economies, which have been increasingly interconnected through trade, investment, and financial flows. The search for lesser dependence on foreign markets in terms of supply chains and market outlets, particularly with reference to strategic sources such as energy, is today at the center of policymakers’ concerns.
The implications of economies’ interdependence have been widely investigated in the history of economic thought. In the 17th century, the mercantilists focused on the relationships between colonies and the mother country to ensure the power of the latter, while Smith (1776) and David Ricardo (1817) emphasized the advantages for all countries of free trade through international specialization. By contrast, Karl Marx (1848) interpreted the cosmopolitan character of the capitalistic system in terms of the bourgeoisie’s exploitation of the world market with the destruction of national industries by new industries that no longer work up indigenous raw materials.
As well as a territory shapes its economy, the opposite is also true, as in the case of megacities and the increasing urban population and agglomeration economies, as highlighted in Alfred Marshall’s theory (developed in the late 19th century) of industrial districts. Spatial dimensions and economic geography theories focusing on economic clustering and concentration in specific regions have been recently rediscovered by Paul Krugman’s (1991) core-periphery model. The new economic geography he inaugurated has its precursors in Walter Christaller’s central-place theory (1933), Walter Isard’s regional science and industrial location theory (1956), as well as J. Vernon Henderson’s (1956) urban system theory.
The development of industrial centers with respect to rural areas also involved migration phenomena, all of which are related phenomena testifying to the multidimensional connections of territories and economies. New economic geography encompasses the shift in economic and political power and the redistribution of resources and opportunities across regions. Such transformations drive the movement of people from one place to another with a significant impact on the spatial economy in terms of population distribution, and particularly the de-population of some areas, as well as the dynamics of economic development and social and cultural changes. Refugee migration, labor migration, rural-to-urban migration, climate migration, and digital nomadism are among the phenomena that characterize our complex times. The growing disparities across regions are another related topic. Territorial and regional inequalities and the North and South divide are not new. Despite economic policy efforts, from post-World War II planning to recent cohesion policies, significant disparities remain, for example, within Italy and across the European Union countries, also exacerbated by recent geopolitical tensions, thereby raising questions about the economic policy effectiveness.
The 2007 Treaty of Lisbon assigned the European Union the mission of promoting territorial, economic, and social cohesion. Since then, investments in infrastructure, incentives for business development, and initiatives to improve education and training have been implemented. An effort re-affirmed by the European Union post-pandemic funds. The European Union’s Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund have been instrumental in financing projects that enhance connectivity, innovation, and economic diversification. The European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility provides a further significant opportunity to address regional disparities, with Italy, as one of the largest beneficiaries.
Addressing sustainable economic development within this context also requires a focus on environmental and digital transitions alongside efforts to reduce regional inequalities for cohesive growth across Europe.
Territorial dimensions of economic activity and the disparities in economic development across different regions offer numerous insights into addressing economic development problems, regional inequalities, population and migration dynamics, and policies from the history of economics perspective and from an interdisciplinary approach. The core-periphery model, in particular, can be fruitfully applied not only to explain economic development but also to explore boundaries between economics and other social sciences and today’s organization of economics into a mainstream (core) and heterodox (periphery) structure.
The 22nd STOREP Annual Conference aims to foster a debate on all the issues related to “Economies and Territories from the History of Economics Perspective”, and welcomes sessions and research papers, framed in a historical or theoretical perspective. The Conference also aims to bring together scholars and leading experts from various fields within the social sciences domain – such as economics and history of economic thought, economic history, sociology, law, demography, and geography – and from diverse regions, with particular encouragement for scholars from the Global South.
Possible focuses of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Theories and models of regional economics, spatial economics, and economic geography analyzed from the history of economics perspective.
- The use of territories and spatial dimensions as a metaphor for economic internal organization and its evolution.
- Historical development of agglomeration economies and their impact on economic theories.
- The impact of regional economics on policy-making and regional planning over time.
- Institutional and policy perspectives: the role of institutions in regional economic development; the impact of regional economic policies on economic growth and spatial inequalities.
- Interdisciplinary studies: demography, migration, geography, sociology, political science contributions on spatial and regional economics.
Paper proposals are welcome in all fields adopting historical and/or theoretical approaches from multiple perspectives (Marxian, Post Keynesian, Neo-Ricardian, Neo Schumpeterian, Institutional, Austrian economics, Stock-flow consistent and agent-based modeling, input-output analysis). Empirical approaches (both quantitative and qualitative) are considered, provided that they are appropriately framed in a historical or theoretical perspective.
Special sessions
We are pleased to announce that
Roberto Marchionatti (Università di Torino) will give the ninth “Raffaelli Lecture” (“The Long 20th Century of Economics. A Critical Narrative of a Social Science that Would Be Queen”).
STOREP invites proposals for special sessions organized in collaboration with other scientific associations, NGOs, and policy-making institutions. As in the past, the 22nd STOREP Conference will jointly organize initiatives and special sessions with the Institute for New Economic Thinking, the “Young Scholars Initiative”, and with students and researchers of the international network Rethinking Economics.
[info on the Raffaelli Lecture here]
Proposals, registration, and special issues
Abstract and session proposals must be uploaded on the submission website of the conference – i.e. via the web-based platform “Conference maker”. To submit, please create an account by providing basic contact information and selecting a user ID and password. If you have previously registered for a conference through Conference Maker, you can login with your existing user ID and password. Detailed instructions can be found here. Submitters must add any co-authors after the proposal is submitted, by clicking on “Add/modify authors”.
- Abstract proposals (including keywords, JEL codes, and affiliation) must not exceed 400 words
- Session proposals should include the abstract of all three/four scheduled papers
Registration: All participants are required to become STOREP members or renew their membership. Detailed instructions can be found here.
The Review of Political Economy (ROPE) will consider selected papers presented at the STOREP Conference for publication. Participants are required to submit their papers to ROPE within six months after the Conference. Manuscripts submitted through this procedure will undergo the standard peer review process. STOREP is also pleased to announce that several academic journals have expressed interest in publishing Conference papers.
“Host/Guest Discipline”: Demography
Since 2023, STOREP has invited scholars from a ‘guest discipline’—a neighboring field of study—to explore its historical relationship with economics. These discussions include its current impact on economics and its potential contribution to the development of a new transdisciplinary behavioral science in the future.
In 2025, the STOREP conference hosts Demography. Since Robert Malthus’s population law, economics has integrated demographic considerations from both macroeconomic and microeconomic perspectives. Research has explored connections between population size, economic growth, and resource exploitation, alongside the evolution of labor markets and demographic dynamics. Aging populations, migration, and human capital formation exemplify the interdependence of the two disciplines in addressing global economic and social challenges.
STOREP 2025 warmly welcomes abstract and session proposals from all areas of demography.
Important dates
March 17, 2025: Deadline for abstracts and sessions submission
April 14, 2025: Notification of abstract and session acceptance or rejection
May 5, 2025: Deadline for early registration
May 20, 2025: Deadline for submitting full papers and for becoming Members
June 11, 2025: YSI pre-conference
June 12-14, 2025: 21st STOREP Annual Conference
Important dates for young scholars: Scholarships and Awards (details below)
March 20, 2025: Deadline for submission of Curriculum Vitae and an extended abstract
April 2, 2025: Deadline for submitting the final papers for Scholarships
May 10, 2025: Results of the evaluation process
December 31, 2025: Deadline for submitting articles for Young STOREP Awards
Registration fees
STOREP Members
(early registration) by May 12: 160€
(late registration) after May 12: 230€
Others
(early registration) by May 12: 220€ (annual membership included)
(late registration) after May 12: 300€ (annual membership included)
Young scholars (non-tenured, under 40)
STOREP members: 100€
others: 130€ (annual membership included)
(1) STOREP provides two Awards of 1000€ each (so as to make it possible to reward both history-of-economic-thought articles and more policy-oriented papers) for the best articles presented at the Annual Conference by young scholars under 40 years of age. Applications, including CV and the final version of the papers, must be sent to segretario@storep.org by December 31, 2025. Only papers co-authored by a maximum of two researchers, both meeting the eligibility criteria for ‘Young’ scholars, are eligible for the Award. Previous award winners from any of the three preceding rounds are not eligible to apply. Papers must not have been previously published or under review in a scholarly journal at the time of the conference.
(2) Scholarships for young scholars (under 40 years of age, non-tenured). In order to be eligible, the applicant is required to send to segretario@storep.org a Curriculum Vitae and an extended abstract (2,000 words ca.) on any topic relevant to the history of political economy, by March 20, 2025. The final version of the papers must be uploaded by April 2, 2025. Applicants will be notified of the evaluation process no later than May 10, 2025. Winners will be awarded free STOREP Conference registration, including the association’s annual membership fee and, if possible, a lump-sum contribution towards travel and accommodation expenses.
Committees and Partners
Organizing Committee
Angela Ambrosino (STOREP Secretary, Università di Torino)
Emilio Cameli (Università del Molise)
Nicola Caravaggio (Università del Molise)
Mario Cedrini (Università di Torino)
Diana Ciliberti (Università del Molise)
Maria Pina Cipollina (Università del Molise)
Giuseppe Di Felice (Università del Molise)
Carlo Lallo (Università del Molise)
Monica Meini (Università del Molise)
Filomena Pietrovito (Università del Molise)
Antonella Rancan (Università del Molise)
Emanuele Agapito Santangelo (Università del Molise)
Scientific Committee
Angela Ambrosino (STOREP Secretary, Università di Torino)
Nicola Caravaggio (Unimol)
Mario Cedrini (Università di Torino)
Maria Cipollina (Università del Molise)
Saverio Fratini (STOREP President, Università Roma Tre)
Carlo Lallo (Università del Molise)
Claudio Lupi (Università del Molise)
Monica Meini (Università del Molise)
Filomena Pietrovito (Università del Molise)
Antonella Rancan (Università del Molise)
Giuliano Resce (Università del Molise)
Ilaria Zilli (Università del Molise)
Institutional Partners
Università degli Studi del Molise – Dipartimento di Economia (website)
Progetto PNRR Age-It: Ageing Well in an Ageing Society (website)