About Me
I build and research regional manufacturing ecosystems and capabilities to enable regional readiness, dynamism, and competitiveness. I focus on discovery, measurement, and modeling of regional supply chains to support scale up of manufacturing capabilities, entrepreneurship, and emerging technologies. Industry and technology expertise in agriculture, semiconductors, uncrewed systems, and medical devices. Methods include: economic geography, econometrics, ML/AI, industrial organization, and qualitative methods research
Latest Publication
Varieties of agglomeration: Disentangling horizontal and vertical agglomeration within the manufacturing sector in the United States
We introduce a novel measure of agglomeration that differentiates between horizontal (co-location with the own/peer industries) and vertical (co-location with suppliers) agglomeration. Using employment and establishment data at the US county level and the six-digit industry level, we demonstrate that industries and regions vary in their degree of vertical versus horizontal agglomeration. Industries with a higher contribution of manufactured goods to overall inputs’ value are correlated with vertical agglomeration while more R&D intensive industries are correlated with horizontal agglomeration. Using the semiconductor industry as an example, we illustrate how heterogeneity in industry-county rates of vertical and horizontal agglomeration might reflect differences in the products that firms operating in different counties manufacture. These industry-level and within-industry differences are not observable with existing agglomeration measures. We present a new theoretical framework for regional and industrial policy interventions.
Read Full PaperShort-Term Economic Dynamism as a Policy Tool to Address Supply Shortages During Crises
This paper develops new theory for how states and nations can better leverage firm entry into critical products to address shortages during crisis situations.
Read Full PaperWorking Papers
One Size Does Not Fit All: An Analysis of Agglomeration-Firm Fit on New Manufacturing Firm Performance.
Firms benefit from their local agglomerations when there is a distinct fit between accessible agglomeration assets and firm needs. Operationally, we sample and identify new manufacturing firms in identical industries that are born in seemingly similar but marginally different agglomerated counties. We define horizontal agglomeration as geographies with greater co-location of own-industry establishments, and vertical agglomeration as geographies with greater co-location of industry suppliers. On average, new manufacturing firms report performance gains in horizontal agglomeration relative to vertical agglomeration. Regions with anchors amplify this effect. Separately, firms operating with downstream production report increased performance when in vertically agglomerated regions. Lastly, new manufacturing firms located away from the industry-dominant agglomeration structure report higher performance. One type of agglomeration does not fit all new manufacturing firms.