Dr. Bruce W. Smith

Education:

Ph.D., Economic Geography, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1970
M.A., Geography, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 1967
B.A., Social Studies Education, Potsdam State College of New York, 1965

Specialty Areas of Interest:

Urban and Economic Geography
Regional Development
Geospatial Analysis
Social Network Analysis

Recent and Current Research or Grants:

Co-PI, Census Project (LUCA) for the City of Bowling Green, City of Bowling Green, 2007-2008, $41,037.
Co-PI, OARDC United States Department of Agriculture One-Time Grant Program, FY07, $182,760.
Co-PI, University Center Program, Economic Development Administration, 2007, $158,214
Co-PI, Greenhouse Nurseries Impact in Ohio. A Collaboration between Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, Ohio State University, Indiana State University, and the Toledo Botanical Gardens, 2006, United States Department of Agriculture, $672,740
Co-PI, University Center Program Economic Development Administration, 2006, $158,214
Co-PI, Greenhouse Nurseries Impact in Ohio. A Collaboration between Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, Ohio State University, Indiana State University, and the Toledo Botanical Gardens, 2005, United States Department of Agriculture, $726,000
Co-PI, University Center Program, Economic Development Administration, 2005, $158,214

Recent Peer Reviewed Publications and Submissions:

Location Quotients versus Spatial Autocorrelation In Identifying Potential Cluster Regions, Annals of Regional Science, accepted for publication, forthcoming (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Critical Steps in the Cluster Building Process, Economic Development Journal, accepted for publication, forthcoming (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Potential Cluster Regions:  The Case of the U.S. Floriculture Industry, Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conferences, 2007, 30, pp. 59-66 (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Identification of Economic Clusters Using ArcGIS Spatial Statistics Tools, Proceedings of the ESRI User Conference, 2007 (with J. Frizado and M. Carroll).

The Role of GIS in Economic Impact Studies, Papers of the Applied Geography Conferences, 2006, 29, pp. 400-407 (with M. Carroll).

Estimating the Economic Impact of Universities:  The Case of Bowling Green State University, The Industrial Geographer, 2006, 3, 2, pp. 1-17 (with M. Carroll).

Assessment of Learning Outcomes:  The Example of Spatial Analysis at Bowling Green State University, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 2006, 14, 3, pp. 211-216 (with Y. Zhou)

Immigration and Economic Restructuring in Ohio’s Cities, 1940-2000,  Ohio Journal of Science, 105, 2005, pp. 133-137 (with K. Otiso).

Communicating Geography Through Newspaper Maps, Papers and Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conference, 27, 2004, pp 12-20 (with K. Otiso and M. Spirek)

Book Chapters
Identification of Economic Clusters Using Local Indexes of Spatial Autocorrelation, in Globalising Worlds: Geographical Perspectives on New Economic Configurations, M. Taylor & C. Tamasy (eds), (with M. Carroll and J. Frizado), forthcoming in 2007.

The Assessment of Cooperative Education.  International Handbook for Cooperative Education;  An International Perspective of the Theory, Research and Practice of Work-Integrated Learning.  R. K. Coll and C. Eames (eds.).  Boston, MA:  World Association for Cooperative Education, 2004, pp. 49-66 (with D. Hodges and P. Jones).

Recent Presentations:

The Cultural Imperatives of Cluster Development: Identity, Tradition, and Flori(culture) in Northwest Ohio, Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, April 2008, Boston, MA (with N. Reid, J. Gatrell, T. Steiger, M. Carroll).

Linkages in a Cluster:  A Social Network Analysis Perspective, Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, April 2008, Boston, MA (with N. Reid and M. Carroll).

Creating Enterprise: Measuring Social Networks of Local Economic Development Agents, North American Regional Science Council, November 2007 Savannah, GA. (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Explaining Business Starts in Ohio:  A Geographically Weighted Regression Approach, 67’th Annual Conference of the Associaton of Economists and Political Scientists, October 2007, Toledo, OH (with N. Reid).

Potential Cluster Regions:  The Case of the U.S. Floriculture Industry, Applied Geography Conference, October 2007, Indianapolis, Indiana (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Creating An Industrial Cluster: Critical Steps In the Cluster Building Process, Applied Geography Conference, October 2007, Indianapolis, IN (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Learning Networks of Local Economic Development Agents: The Case of Northwest Ohio, Institute of British Geographers. London, 2007 (with M. Carroll and N. Reid).

Social Network Analysis in Cluster-Based Economic Development, Second Global Conference on Economic Geography, June 2007, Beijing China (with N. Reid and M. Carroll)

U.S. Floriculture: An Industry Under Threat, Second Global Conference on Economic Geography, June 2007, Beijing China (with N. Reid, M. Carroll, and P. Lindquist)

Identification of Economic Clusters Using ArcGIS Spatial Statistics Tools, ESRI User Conference, June 2007 (with J. Frizado and M. Carroll).

The Impact of Canadian Floriculture Imports on the U.S. Floriculture Industry, Annual Meetings of the Association of American Geographers, April 2007, San Francisco, CA, (with N. Reid and M. Carroll)

Location Quotients versus Spatial Autocorrelation In Identifying Potential Cluster Areas, Western Regional Science Association, February 2007, Newport Beach, CA, (with N. Reid and M. Carroll)

Potential Cluster Areas:  A Spatial Autocorrelation Approach. Annual Meetings of the North American Regional Science Council, November 2006, Toronto, Ont. (with M. Carroll)

A GIS Approach to Measuring the Localization of Manufacturing in the Midwest, EDA University Conference, October 2006 (with M. Carroll)

The Integration of Geography into the 7-12 Curriculum Using GIS in the Toledo Public Schools, East Lakes Division of the Association of American Geographers Meetings, October 2006, Toledo, OH (with A. Samel and K. Otiso)

The Role of GIS in Economic Impact Studies. Applied Geography Conference, October 2006, Tampa, FL. (with M. Carroll)

Social Capital and Cluster-based Economic Development, International Geographical Union Regional Conference, July 2006, Brisbane, Aust. (with M. Carroll, N. Reid, and F. Calzonetti).

Identification of Economic Clusters Using Local Indexes of Spatial Autocorrelation, International Geographical Union Commission on ‘The Dynamics of Economic Spaces’ Globalizing Worlds: Geographical Perspectives on Old and New Value Chains, Commodity Chains, Supply Chains Conference, Auckland, NZ, June 2006 (with M. Carroll & J. Frizado).

Integration of GIS in the 7-12 Curriculum in the Toledo Public Schools.  Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, March  2006 (with A. Samel and K. Otiso)

In My Own Words:

Dr. Bruce W. Smith is an economic and urban geographer.  Over the years, he has published on various topics related to economic and urban geography, including urban growth and change, delivery of services, and geographical aspects of aging.

In recent years, Dr. Smith’s research has focused on local economic development, particularly cluster-based economic development.  This research, which involves a team from Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, and Indiana State University, has been implementing a cluster-based economic development project for the greenhouse industry in northwest Ohio.  It has been supported by grants from the United States Department of Agriculture.  The more basic research from this project has focused on the globalization of the floriculture industry, particularly the growing imports from Ontario.  Also research has been published using the spatial statistics option in ArcGIS to identify the spatial footprints of clusters, and other industrial concentrations.

The greenhouse industry in northwest Ohio, which ranks in top 5% of production areas in the US, is primarily family owned and dates back to the late 1800’s.  Consequently there are a large number of embedded personal relationships which impact the collaboration necessary in a cluster-based economic development project.  Recently we have been using Social Network Analysis a methodology for better understanding and mapping the relevant relationships.

Another research thrust has been stimulated by the formation of the E-4 network, which is composed of geographers and economists at Bowling Green, the University of Toledo, the University of Auckland (New Zealand), Birmingham University (United Kingdom), and the University of Calgary (Canada).  The E-4 network will address issues related to Economy, Enterprise, Employment and Environment (with ‘environment’ including the social and physical as well as the economic environment).  The aim of the E4 Network is to develop a more pragmatic approach to local economic development and the formulation of appropriate policy by drawing on the breadth of international experience in the E4 field, by bringing a network of people working in the regional and local development field as theoreticians, practitioners, policy makers and empirical analysts to share their thoughts on the processes that create and maintain growth in specific places.  From a research perspective, this will involve comparative studies of local economic development using a mix of geographic research tools, including geospatial analysis, structural equation modelling, social network analysis, as well as qualitative methods.  On a more personal note, these activities have paved the way for trips to New Zealand, Australia, Beijing, Tokyo England, Hawaii, as well as less exotic locations.

Being affiliated with the Center for Regional Development provides an opportunity to provide technical assistance and applied research for communities and organizations throughout northwest Ohio.  To date, most of this work has entailed various geospatial analyses.