LATEST PUBLICATIONS
Temporal Impact of FTZs
Papers in Applied Geography| The Impact of Foreign-Trade Zones on County Level Development: A Temporal Analysis ​
Published: In 1934, the Foreign-Trade Zone Act was passed in order to ease restrictions on internationally traded goods, provide domestic firms with a competitive advantage over foreign companies, boost jobs in import/export businesses, increase exports, and promote economic development. The growth in the number of foreign-trade zones (FTZs) across the United States since 1934 has resulted in the ever-expanding reach of the zone program across the landscape. Even with the growth of FTZs, these zones have remained largely obscure to academia and the public at-large. While various scholars have analyzed the impact of FTZs on exports and trade volumes, few have focused on spatial and temporal impacts on neighboring communities. This study analyzed short- and long-term percentage changes in median household income, unemployment rates, number of manufacturing firms, and manufacturing employment after FTZs were added to a county. Results indicate a significant long-term increase in manufacturing employment in counties adding an FTZ but a significant increase in unemployment rates and decline in manufacturing firms in neighboring counties. These findings suggest FTZs may provide manufacturing employment benefits for a county in the long-term but costs on overall employment and number of firms in neighboring counties may outweigh these benefits.
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Health
Deserts
Geojournal | Food, Physical Activity, and Health Deserts in Alabama: The Spatial Link Between Healthy Eating, Exercise, and Socioeconomic Factors ​
Published: Regions with limited access to fresh foods have been associated with socioeconomic factors such as minority ethnic populations, lower incomes, higher poverty levels, elderly populations, and lower educational attainment. However, much of the previous research on food deserts has overlooked the spatial connection between these factors and limited access to fresh foods, physical activity, and areas where these regions overlap. This paper explores the relationship between these factors, with a special focus on the state of Alabama, and defines areas with poor access to physical activity facilities as physical activity deserts, and areas where food and physical activity deserts overlap as health deserts. Food and physical activity deserts were determined by placing a 10-mile driving distance buffer in rural areas and a 1-mile driving distance buffer in urban areas around fresh grocers, fitness facilities, and public parks. Regions not located within these buffers were mapped and their spatial relationship with a series of socioeconomic factors was analyzed using multiple regression and geographically weighted regression. Multiple regression results indicate a significant relationship between educational attainment, poverty levels, and the percentage of Black residents and limited access to fresh foods, physical activity facilities, and regions where access to both are limited. Geographically weighted regression results reveal significant spatial variation within the strength and direction of these relationships. These findings suggest that socioeconomic status may play a role in improving or diminishing access to healthy foods and physical activity in Alabama; however, the nature of these relationships is highly dependent on location.
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Foreign-Trade Zones in the Southeast
Southeastern Geographer | Foreign-trade zones in the Southeastern United States: Do they promote economic development or lead to spatial inequality?
Published: Foreign-trade zones (FTZs) are restricted-access sites where domestic and foreign goods are stored, manufactured, or assembled. Products foreign bound from an FTZ do not pay duties, tariffs, or ad valorem state taxes, yet are considered domestic goods. These zones are outside of US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) jurisdiction and are considered foreign territory. FTZs are intended to promote economic development, provide a competitive advantage to US firms, and improve access to foreign markets for US manufacturing firms. However, while these zones can positively impact local economies, they may attract investment away from underserved regions, thereby exacerbating spatial inequality. This paper analyzes the spatial relationship between the number of FTZs, median household income, unemployment rates, income growth rates, and the number of manufacturing firms by county in the Southeastern United States. Results from this study find that counties with FTZs in the Southeast have significantly higher economic output than counties without access to FTZs.
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Maritime Depencency
Marine Policy | Maritime dependency and economic prosperity: Why access to oceanic trade matters
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Published: Maritime trade and access to deep-water territory are important when determining a country’s economic success. Today, as much as 75 percent of international trade takes place over water due to the fuel efficiency of seaborne freight and worldwide dependency on water as a means of transportation. Issues in economic geography such as being landlocked and maritime trade are directly related to global development patterns. A country’s ability to participate in international trade and transport goods overseas is integral in the modern global economy. Maritime dependency is the ability of a country to participate in maritime trade as determined by their geographic access to international waters and trade dependency. Access to maritime shipping and global participation in maritime trade is key to attracting global capital. This study explores the relationship between five major factors in maritime dependency and economic prosperity. Findings suggest a significant relationship between maritime dependency and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Results from this analysis were indexed and an Index of Maritime Dependency was created and mapped to display the geographical distribution of maritime dependency.
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