Abstract

Paper
Economic Analysis and GIS
Track: Teaching with GIS in Higher Education
Authors: Robert Jones

GIS has applications in economics beyond those in agricultural, environmental and natural resource analysis. In this session, several other economic applications of GIS will be explored. For example, the national unemployment rate is commonly broadcast as though the US were one single, homogeneous economy. Closer geographic analysis (e.g., by state or county) reveals the wide variation in economic performance during an economic cycle. In some states, for example, the unemployment rate is as much as three times that of other states. Animation will be used to observe the geographic spread and decline in unemployment during the recent recession. Furthermore, it is clear that the geographic dispersion of unemployment is not randomly distributed. Other examples will include: regional economic growth over time, growth or decline of specific urban areas over time, housing price patterns in and around urban areas among other applications.

Robert Jones
Skidmore College
Economics Department
815 North Broadway
Saratoga Springs, New York 12866
United States
Phone: (518) 580-5094
Fax: (518) 580-5099
E-mail: rjones@skidmore.edu