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PhD with Specialization in: International Economic & Business Geographies

The Department of Geography offers advanced graduate students the opportunity to define an individualized research program in international economic and business geographies. This rapidly growing area of study is concerned with the spatial configuration and organization of firms, industries, and territories within the emerging global economy in all of its economic, political, and cultural manifestations. Special attention is given to the forces of globalization and their impacts upon spatial-economic systems over time; economic agglomeration and industrial clustering; the growth and decline of regions and industrial districts; corporate strategy, competition, business networks, and innovation; the shifting patterns of international trade, foreign direct investment, labor-market development, and the location of production; political-economic organization of production and investment systems; and the restructuring of spatial-economic systems at local, national, and global levels.

Heightened Interest

The past decade has seen a significant heightening of interest in issues of space and location, and in their relationship to international business and industrial geography. This has been stimulated, in part, by the emergence of the "new economic geography," which has been pioneered by both geographers and economists in North America, the United Kingdom, and several countries in Europe and East and Southeast Asia. New approaches and new modeling techniques are now being applied to classic questions in economic and industrial geography. Some of the key ingredients of this new approach include monopolistic competition, economies of scale, and pecuniary externalities, in which the mathematics of complex dynamic, non-linear systems allows for the existence of multiple equilibria.

This renewed interest has spread across interdisciplinary boundaries. For example, the organizers of the annual international meeting of the Academy of International Business have identified the theme of their June-July, 2002 meetings in Puerto Rico as "Geographies and International Business." The focus of this conference (and of recent articles appearing in the Academy's Journal of International Business Studies) is a clear recognition by this international association of business school researchers of the importance of what it refers to as the "interaction of geography and international business." In addition, a new international journal that focuses upon the "new economic geography" and the interrelationships between international economic geography and business has just been created and launched by colleagues in the U.K. and the U.S. The title of the journal is Journal of Economic Geography, and the purpose of the publication is to stimulate research and discussion on topics related to the "new economic geography."

Representative Courses in Geography

  • Survey methods for human Geography Dept.
  • Introduction to international business and world trade
  • Industrial geography
  • Regional analysis
  • Transportation
  • Location and international trade theory
  • Critical urban issues
  • World regional and cultural systems
  • Spatial problems of multinational operations
  • Organization of industrial space in the Asia-Pacific region
  • Technology, globalization, and development

Recent Titles of Research Completed or Underway by Doctoral Students

  • The global decentralization of commercial aircraft production
  • The role of location a mature manufacturing sector: an examination of the United States machine-tool industry
  • Contagious currency crisis and spatial auto-correlation in the structure of foreign exchange
  • Geographic information systems for studying economic change: application of the location quotient
  • Effects of foreign direct investment on trade: a comparative analysis of Germany, Japan, and the United States
  • United States foreign direct investment in the London legal market: a firm-level analysis
  • Migration patterns among employees in selected producer services
  • An analysis of the determinants of United States direct investment abroad in the manufacturing sector
  • Location, strategy, and firm performance: the case of the pharmaceutical industry
  • Export behavior of Vietnamese firms in transition from a centrally planned to a market system
  • Innovation and collaboration in the United States biotechnology industry
  • The origins, composition, and spatial distribution of foreign direct investment in Poland, 1989-1998.

Tailored courses of study

One of the advantages of the doctoral program is that students work closely with their major professors and their dissertation committees to design programs that meet their specific career goals. Very few of the doctoral-level courses are required, which provides students with an excellent opportunity to design a program that is unique to their perceived needs, and that has sufficient flexibility to enable them to take a variety of elective courses in geography and related disciplines. More specific information on required courses and exams will be provided upon request for application materials.

International Students and Faculty

One of the pleasant advantages of studying in the Department of Geography at the University at Buffalo is the fact that we typically have a wide variety of graduate geography students from other nations. This year, for example, we have individuals from 19 different nations enrolled in our graduate programs. They greatly enrich the educational and social experiences that are possible within the department. It is also noteworthy that our current geography faculty represent eight different countries, not including the U.S.

Local Professional Organizations

Buffalo and the Western New York region contain more than 250 manufacturers and business-service agencies that are engaged in international activities. Providing services (e.g., training, seminars, special speakers) are the World Trade Center: Buffalo Niagara organization, which is a member of the World Trade Centers Association; the Buffalo World Trade Association, which was established in 1921 and provides a social environment in which international business people convene to discuss business-related activities; and the Buffalo Export Assistance Center, which is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Admission Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree
  • Good GRE scores (and TOEFL scores, if appropriate)
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Online application at www.gradmit.buffalo.edu

Note: The Geography Department will accept GMAT scores in lieu of GRE scores.

Faculty in Geography

Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, Professor, geosbs@buffalo.edu
Irene Casas, Assistant Professor, icasas@buffalo.edu
Trina Hamilton, Assistant Professor, trinaham@buffalo.edu

Alan MacPherson, Professor, geoadm@buffalo.edu
Jessie Poon, Professor, jesspoon@buffalo.edu
Peter Rogerson, Professor, rogerson@buffalo.edu

Other faculty members in the Department provide instruction in related areas, such as urban and regional analysis, transportation, and geographic information systems.


Department of Geography University at Buffalo