Research group Regional economies are in constant change. New economic activities emerge, while others disappear, creating opportunities for work in some jobs, and restricting it in others. These processes prove to be challenging for many regions and workers due to the spatial mismatch of growth and decline that in recent years has exacerbated regional differences in economic opportunities. The focus of the REC group is on better understanding the ability of regions to sustain work and welfare.
The REC group at Umeå University is made up of both junior and senior researchers mainly within the field of economic geography, regional science and network science. Hence, many in the group is affiliated to the inter-disciplinary Centre for Regional Science at Umeå University (CERUM).
The focus of research is on different aspects of regional development and employment, with an emphasis on how to sustain employment and welfare in non-metropolitan regions in Sweden. In that way we are interested in questions relating to regional resilience and development, labour market dynamics, structural change, employment, mobility, co-worker networks, and entrepreneurship.
The research undertaken is both quantitative and qualitative in methods, but the main focus at the moment is on quantitative analyses using longitudinal geo-referenced administrative data at a very detailed level.
Apart from extensive collaboration with researchers in all of Europe as well as the U.S., members of the group are actively taking part in the research community through international conferences and workshops. All members are also intensely involved in local and regional collaborations with policy makers as well as communicating cutting edge research with national development institutions and organizations.
