CRP 385C
Regional Growth Dynamics

Instructor: Michael Oden
Time and Place: Monday 6:00-9:00 P.M. Sutton 2.114
Office: Sutton 3.120

CONTENT:

This course will be organized as a research seminar where students use new theoretical approaches and quantitative and qualitative research methods to study the structure and dynamics of the largest metro areas in Texas (depending on class size, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Ft. Worth and El Paso). The class will examine the forces behind the rapid growth of Texas' major metro areas analyze the conditions supporting and limiting future growth and development. Particular attention will be given to investigating the key export industries driving growth in each region, support institutions such as universities and research centers, an other key performance measures such as educational attainment, patent data, venture capital investments, etc. The relationship between industry development and the evolution of the local labor market will also be studied to determine what kinds of jobs have been generated, income distribution characteristics and outcomes, and what kind of employees are getting new jobs (residents/non-residents, occupational and skill characteristics, labor market segments, etc).

In the first part of the course we will review pioneering research on regional economic development focusing on inter-industry linkages, quality of local extra-firm infrastructure, and the "embeddedness" of major exporting firms. The second part will involve a systematic compilation and analysis of secondary data on the various MSAs from government (especially the 2000 Census), industry, and civic association sources. Based on an analysis of the literature and secondary data, students will isolate outstanding questions and form discrete hypotheses concerning the characteristics of regional export sectors, the importance of local research and educational assets, and the role of labor supply, land, transportation and amenities in shaping future growth in these metro areas. In the third section, students will explore and test their hypotheses by applying regional analysis techniques to secondary data and possibly developing survey instruments and interviewing a small number of key informants in regional firms, local government and non-profit organizations.

The main product of the course will be a high quality professional presentation and published report profiling each metro region and comparing the characteristics and growth patters across major Texas metros. The report will focus on individual challenges facing each region and may isolate common problems facing urban Texas.

Sample of Readings:

F.M. Scherer, New Perspectives on Economic Growth and Technological Change,

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, The Technological Reshaping of Metropolitan America, OTA-ETI-643, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September, 1995.

Krugman, Paul, Geography and Trade, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 1991.

David Audretsch, "Agglomeration and the Location of Innovative Activity, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 14, No 2, 1998.

Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, New York: The Free Press, 1990.

Jane Jacobs, The Economies of Cities, New York: Random House, 1969.

Edward Glaeser, et al. "Growth in Cities, " Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 100, no. 61, 1992, pp., 1126-1152.

Curtis Simon, "Human Capital and Metropolitan Growth," Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 43, 1998, pp. 223-243.

Glaeser, Edward, "Learning in Cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 46, 1999. Edward J. Malecki, Technology & Economic Development: The Dynamics of Local, Regional and National Competitiveness.

Maryann Feldman and David Audretch, "Science-Based Diversity, Specialization and Localized Competition, " European Economic Review, No. 43, 1999.

Adam Jaffe, et al., "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1993.

Maryann Feldman and Richard Florida, "The Geographic Sources of Innovation: Technological Infrastructure and Product Innovation in the U.S.", Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 82:2, 1994.

Bennett Harrison, "Industrial Districts: Old Wine in New Bottles? " Regional Studies, Vol. No 5,83.

Markusen, Ann, "Four Structures for Second Tier Cities," in Ann Markusen et al., (eds.) Second Tier Cities, Rapid Growth beyond the Metropolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1999. pp. 21-41.{R}

Michael Storper and Robert Salais, Worlds of Production: The Action Frameworks of the Economy, pp. 44-76, 97-115. {R}

Donald Smith and Richard Florida, "Venture Capitals Role in Regional Innovation Systems: Historical Perspectives and Recent Evidence," in Zoltan Acs (ed.) Regional Innovation, Knowledge and Global Change, London: Pinter, 2000. pp.205-227.{R}