Lay James Gibson

University Distinguished Outreach Professor, Geography & Regional Development; Director, Economic Development Research Program

1968: Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
1966: M.A., University of California, Los Angeles
1963: B.S., Oregon State University

Phone: (520) 621-7899, (520) 621 7901
Fax: (520) 621-7834
E-mail: ljgibson@ag.arizona.edu

Webpage

Research

I focus on projects which are designed to inform public and private sector decision makers who are seeking efficient locations for facilities or who are concerned with implementing strategies to more effectively manage regional systems. Typical projects deal with regional growth including analyses of economic impacts of project development, facility feasibility studies, target industry studies, research on economic base theory and central place theory, and studies of regional comparative advantage. My client list at the Economic Development Research Program includes both firms and government agencies in Arizona, and elsewhere in the United States. I direct the Arizona Economic Development Course held each year in Tucson.

My text with J.W. Alexander, Economic Geography was published by Prentice Hall in 1979. I co-edited The U.S. and Mexico: borderland development and the national economies (Westview,1985, with A. Corona Rentería), Regional structural change: experience and prospects in two mature economies (RSRI, 1989, with R.J.Stimson) and Applied Geography: A World Perspective (Kluwer, 2004, with Antoine Bailly). I am currently on the editorial board of Sustaining Regions.

Publications

• Gibson, L.J., D. Rutherford, O. Brand and S. Hollier. 2005. Geographic learning: Building a research agenda for meeting societal needs. Research in Geographic Education 7: 87-99.
• Miller, M.M. and L.J. Gibson. 2005. Cluster-based development in the tourism industry: Putting practice into theory. Applied Research in Economic Development 2: 47-64.
• Bailly, Antoine, L.J. Gibson, P. Batey and A.S. Lopes. 2005. The role of universities in the development of regions. Portuguese Journal of Regional Studies 9: 91-106.
• Bailly, A. S., L.J. Gibson. 2003. Regional science: directions for the future. Papers in Regional Science 83 (1): 127-138.
• Gibson, L.J., B. Albrecht, and B. Evans. 2003. Is retail trade a focus for real economic development in the knowledge-based economy? Applied Research in Economic Development 1 (1): 44-55.
• Gibson, L.J. and B. Evans. 2002. Regional dependence on tourism: the significance of seasonality. Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers 64: 112-127.
• Bailly, A. S., L.J. Gibson and E. Glenn. 2001. Les métropoles americaines: au-delá des limites urbaines. Pp41-49 in Paulet, J-P (ed.) Les Trés Grandes Villes dans le Monde. Paris: CNED/Sedes/HER.
• Gibson, L.J. 2000. Spatial Dynamics: soft factors, soft outcomes. Pp29-38 in W.Rothengatter and J.Kowalski (eds.) Soft Factors in Spatial Dynamics. Karlsruhe Papers in Economic Policy Research 7. Baden-Baden: Nomos Versgsgesellschaft.
• Gibson, L.J. and E. Glenn. 2000. Benchmarking and benchmarks: regional benchmarking and economic base analysis. Economic Development Review 6 (1): 57-64