PhD

The purpose of this study was to determine the potential contribution of vocational and technical education to the future social-economic development of Albania. To achieve this purpose, a panel of experts was involved in the formulation of statements and the determination of each statement's value as a contributor to future social-econ ....

The purpose of this qualitative study was to construct a substantive theory with a core category and related categories that provides an explanation for how presidents of tribal colleges and community colleges in rural areas come to understand economic development and how they act on that understanding. The single situation grounded the ....

This dissertation is concerned with the relationship between industrial agglomerations and geographical spillovers arising from the investment of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in Thailand. It seeks to examine two objectives. The first objective is to identify provinces with significant industrial agglomerations or hotspots, and the s ....

This dissertation concerns the role of Canadian municipalities in stimulating economic growth. In particular, it focuses on the ability of municipal governments to stimulate the accelerated, sustained growth of local industry sectors through appropriate and timely public policies and actions.  The case is the petroleum manufacturi ....

Changes have taken place in the United States economy over the past several years attributable to the overall global economic environment. As a result of the weakened U.S. economy, there is reduced demand for lumber and other wood-based products utilized within the housing market sector. The forest product industry plays a vital role in ....

Innovation has played an important role in the economic development of regions. It is believed that research collaboration between university and industry has a positive influence on regional growth and development. This research explores the role of university-industry collaboration in regional economic development at the metropolitan ....

In an environment of globalization and rapid technological change, entrepreneurship and innovation have become important objectives of state, regional, and local economic development policy. Entrepreneurial focused economic development strategies target state and regional efforts towards policies--such as cluster development, business i ....

This is an exploratory study that applies the dominant theories of the community power structure literature to the trend of regional cluster-based economic development policy in order to develop a conceptual framework of the political/institutional context of this "new" approach. In order to develop a framework that can be utilized by p ....

The three essays study distinct issues related to the well-being of rural households. The first essay evaluates public investments in forest-based microenterprises as part of an integrated conservation and development project in the Brazilian Amazon. I use matching with regression methods to quantify the effects of program participation on h ....

The first essay develops a typology that identifies the multiple pathways, functions and operations where innovation can occur in a firm's internal business cycle based upon the extant literature that includes both technological and non-technological activities. This is an important step toward developing a comprehensive strategy for a ....

The dissertation examines the relationship between international migration and local development in rural areas of Mexico. It consists of three interconnected papers. The first paper advances a new theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationship between migration and productive investment in migrants' communities of origin. Based on a ....

The impact of transportation infrastructure on regional employment can be reflected through changes in the accessibility of the region affected. A certain region may benefit from the positive externalities associated with a public works project even though the facilities are located in another region. The extent of these spillovers can ....

Research in urban geography tends to focus on large cities. This dissertation recognizes that cities come in many sizes; it argues that it is important to study small towns as urban places. Further, it finds that urban processes occurring in small towns are not just useful to expand our understanding of these places, but as indicators o ....

My research examines why some smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Amazon are leaving agriculture and migrating large urban centers, and then returning to rural and peri-urban areas. My secondary research question explores to what extent identification with rural lifeways may play a part in influencing return migration. To understand wh ....