BOURGEOIS ECONOMICS

Paper on the geography of innovation awarded prize from the royal economic society

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, ROTMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

 

IMAGE: RUBEN GAETANI IS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MISSISSAUGA AND THE ROTMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT. HIS RESEARCH INTERESTS LIE AT THE INTERSECTION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, INNOVATION AND URBAN ECONOMICS. view more 

CREDIT: ROTMAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Toronto – A paper co-authored by Prof. Ruben Gaetani of the University of Toronto is the recipient of the 2021 Austin Robinson Memorial Prize from the Royal Economic Society. The prize is awarded annually for the best paper published in The Economic Journal by authors who are within five years of receiving their PhDs.’

Gaetani is an assistant professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto Mississauga and the Rotman School of Management. The paper, ‘The Geography of Unconventional Innovation,’ appeared in the May 2021 issue of the Economic Journal and was co-authored with Enrico Berkes, a post-doctoral researcher at Ohio State University.

The paper shows that innovation activity is less concentrated in high-density locations than commonly believed. Yet, inventions based on atypical combinations of knowledge are indeed more prevalent in high-density urban centres. The managing editors of the Economic Journal said that the paper creates a better understanding of where innovation and modern growth comes from as a key part of economics and society in general and demonstrated a combination of new, interesting facts with a rigorous spatial model.  The paper is available online.

“This award highlights that there are great opportunities to work at the intersection of innovation and urban economics. I hope to contribute more to this area in my future research,” says Prof. Gaetani.

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For more information:

Ken McGuffin

Manager, Media Relations

Rotman School of Management

University of Toronto

E-mail:mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca