The study of the principles that govern the production and distribution of goods under capitalist systems, which includes the roles that individuals and political entities such as states play in the production and consumption of goods. In a useful article, Sheppard (2010) J. Econ. Geog. 11, 2, 319 explains that geographical political economists consider a wide-ranging set of theories of the capitalist space economy, connecting agency with socio-spatial structure, through extensive multi-method case study research, as well as theoretical analysis.