About

I’m an Associate Professor in the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. I’m also a Visiting Senior Fellow in the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics.

I study cities and local labor markets. Much of my current research is focused on the links between innovation, inequality and prosperity. In high-income countries like the U.S., the UK and Canada, we currently inhabit an age of large and growing economic inequality, both between people and places. My work aims to better understand these patterns over the long run. Broadly, the aim is to explore whether we can enjoy greater equality in opportunities and outcomes, while maintaining the kinds of dynamic, innovation-oriented economies that have spawned an unprecedented 200 years of growth. Some other work in progress examines the effects of ethnic and gender diversity on productivity and innovation in contemporary Britain (details here). I’m also working on capturing the changing geography of wealth in the United States.

For my study on Brexit and immobility, my co-authors and I won the Understanding Society Paper Prize. In 2016, my work on the economic value of local social networks won the Urban Land Institute Prize for the best paper published in the Journal of Economic Geography. Back in 2013, I also won an Early Career Award from the Regional Studies Association.

I serve on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Economic Geography, as well as at Progress in Economic Geography. Between 2017 and 2021, I was an Editor at Regional Studies.

Cutting across my research interests, I’m interested in policy efforts to stimulate prosperity. I have advised governments and NGOs on issues of regional and international development, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and the World Bank.

Before joining U of T, I held academic appointments at Queen Mary, University of London; the University of Southampton; the London School of Economics; and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I received my PhD from UCLA.