Christopher R. Esposito

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Christopher R. Esposito

Graduate Student

Email: cresposito@ucla.edu

Biography

Chris is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of geography at UCLA. His research studies how technological knowledge evolves across space and time. His most recent study uses novel data to investigate how new cities form as innovative hubs.

Chris is also involved in applied urban policy research. With Edward Leamer and Jerry Nickelsburg from UCLA, he studied the minimum wage increases in Los Angeles County to learn if minimum wage laws are helpful in combating income inequality.

Chris co-organizes the e-seminar series Seminars in Economic Geography. The series features exciting new studies from emerging scholars and attendance is open to the public.

Education

Master of Arts, Geography

UCLA, 2016

Thesis: An Evolutionary Theory of Regional Economic Growth and Change

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Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Geography

Colgate University, 2014

magna cum laude

Thesis: The Role of Natural Amenities in Gentrification

Selected Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications

  • Esposito, C., Rigby, D. 2019. Buzz and Pipelines: The Costs and Benefits of Local and Non-Local Interaction. Journal of Economic Geography 19 (3). 753-773. [PDF]   [Abstract]. Awarded the 2019 UCLA Geography Graduate Student Publication Award.

Under Peer Review

  • Esposito, C. The Emergence of Knowledge Production in New Places. [Preprint]

Works in Progress

  • Esposito, C. Constructing and Visualizing the Tree of Technology.
  • Esposito, C. Creative Destruction in Space: Lessons from the Information Technology Industry and Silicon Valley.
  • Esposito, C. Where is Impactful Novelty Generated? The Returns to Incremental and Novel Innovations in Knowledge-Diverse Regions.
  • Esposito, C., and Van der Wouden, F. The Growing Big-Team Premium for Creating Breakthrough Inventions, 1850-2014.
  • Esposito, C., Side-by-Side Minimum Wage Experiments in Los Angeles County. In Preparation. With Edward Leamer (UCLA Anderson) and Jerry Nickelsburg (UCLA Anderson).
  • Esposito, C.  Preature Deagglomeration: The Burden of Inelastic Housing Supply on the Innovation Economy. [PDF]

Grants & Awards

  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow
  • 2019 UCLA Geography Graduate Student Publication Award. Awarded for “The Costs and Benefits of Local and Non-Local Interaction,” published in Journal of Economic Geography (2019)
  • International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) Summer Fellowship. Funded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
  • UCLA Graduate Research Fellow
  • Colgate University Shannon McCune Award for Excellence in Geography
  • High Honors, Economics. High Honors, Geography. Colgate University

Courses & Presentations

Courses Taught

  • Geography 7: Intro to GIS
  • Urban Planning 237: Theories of Regional Economic Development (Grad-Level Course)
  • Geography 5: Earth and Earth Ecosystems

Conference and Seminar Presentations

  • Seminars in Economic Geography. May, 2020.
  • Urban Economics Association Annual Meeting. Philadelphia. Oct. 2019.
  • Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. July 2019. Invited guest speaker.
  • Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Washington, DC. Apr. 2019.
  • North American Regional Science Conference. San Antonio, Nov. 2018.
  • Global Conference in Economic Geography. Cologne, Germany. July 2018.
  • Young Economic Geographers Network Workshop. Lindlar, Germany. July 2018.
  • Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. New Orleans. Apr. 2018.
  • Fourth Geography of Innovation Conference. Barcelona, Spain. Jan. 2016.
  • Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. July 2017. Invited guest speaker.
  • 20th Annual Uddevalla Symposium: Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Industrial Dynamics in Internationalized Regional Economies. Trollhatten, Sweden. June 2017.
  • Annual Meeting of the Regional Studies Association. Dublin, Ireland. June 2017.
  • Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Boston. Apr. 2017.
  • Colgate University. Hamilton NY. Apr. 2017. Invited guest speaker.
  • Utrecht University Economic Geography Seminar. Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Sept. 2016. Invited guest speaker.
  • Young Economic Geographers Network Workshop. Bern, Switzerland. Aug. 2016.
  • Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. San Francisco. Apr. 2016.
  • 3rd Geography of Innovation Conference. Toulouse, France. Jan. 2016.

Advisors

Ph.D. Committee

David L. Rigby, Professor of Geography and Stastics (Committee Chair)

Michael Storper, Professor of Urban Planning

Jacob Foster, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Allen J. Scott, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography

MA Committee

David L. Rigby, Professor of Geography and Stastics (Committee Chair)

Michael Storper, Professor of Urban Planning

Lynne Zucker, Professor of Sociology