To New York I go

I’m heading down to New York City tomorrow for the 2012 Association of American Geographers conference. 7,000 geographers. 5 days. 1 city. It’s always an interesting time.

Here’s the presentation I’ll be giving. It’s based on some of my newer work that looks at the connections between local entrepreneurial cultures and the reasons why entrepreneurs decide to start their firms in the first place. Hopefully I’ll find an outlet to publish it in soon.

Regional Cultural Contexts and Entrepreneurial Intentions: A Bourdieuian Approach

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February 23, 2012 – 2:33 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Field Notes | Tagged , | Comments Off

New article: The sources of regional variation in Canadian self-employment

I just got the final version of my new paper in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business (Vol 15, issue 3, pages 340-361 for those keeping track at home. E-mail me for a copy). This is my first solo paper and the first paper that I controlled from start to finish. It’s not …

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February 13, 2012 – 9:00 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Things I write | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Angels in the back field

I love it when newspapers provide great examples of economic geography. In just the past few weeks, I’ve seen a cornocopia of great articles that really exemplify why economic geography is so amazing. We have Adam Davidson’s Making it in America cover story in the Atlantic (which I’m currently forcing 200 students to read and …

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January 27, 2012 – 9:34 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Field Notes | Tagged , | Comments Off

New Article: The Spatial Economy of North American Trade Fairs

I’ve been busy over the last few weeks teaching my first class ever, but I got a pleasant surprise that an article that I had written last year has finally been published in The Canadian Geographer. The Spatial Economy of North American Trade Fairs uses a unique dataset to track the location, size, and types …

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January 25, 2012 – 11:09 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Things I write | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Well, that was quick.

  I’m mostly posting this here so I can find it again in the future. This is like classroom discussion gold. Maybelline is already Occupy Wall Street themed ads. What ever you might think about capitalism, it will adapt to anything.

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November 30, 2011 – 8:50 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off

A quick thought

I don’t want to do many of these short questions designed only to provoke, but I’m reading the Steve Jobs biography and it’s hard not to feel somewhat philosophical. Here it is. There is only one question that matters when studying the geography of entrepreneurship: If John and Clara jobs had not moved back from Wisconsin …

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November 8, 2011 – 10:26 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Opinions and Editorials

An Op-Ed that I wrote with my advisor and a fellow grad student was published in today’s Toronto Star. Kind of exciting to submit something, have it accepted, and have it actually appear in print in less than 18 months. Quite a change from the usual academic pace.

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November 8, 2011 – 8:48 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Grad Studentism | Tagged | Comments Off

Using technology in the qualitative social sciences – I

So I’m a geek. This means that I have an peculiar relationship with technology. Despite much evidence to the contrary, I see technology as a source of all things good and pure in this world. However, I’m also a social scientist who uses primarily qualitative methods: I interview entrepreneurs and investors and through those interviews try to better understand the …

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November 7, 2011 – 9:42 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Grad Studentism | Tagged , , | Comments Off

A little something from the lab

I haven’t posted much – a trip drive from Calgary to Toronto was followed by throwing myself into the dissertation work. I’ll try to do more short posts instead of fewer longer ones. Here’s a little thing that I dug up for a class I’m prepping for next semester called “New Economic Spaces.” This is …

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November 6, 2011 – 10:45 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Grad Studentism | Tagged , | Comments Off

Finally there

Well, it took 1 year, 2 months and 23 days, but I finally finished my PhD fieldwork. Here are some stats. 109 interviews, that’s 80 entrepreneurs, 13 economic development officials, 4 angel investors, 7 bankers and 7 venture capitalists. Average length of interview: 40 minutes and 23 seconds. Total tape collected: 69 hours and 40 …

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August 17, 2011 – 3:41 pm | By Ben Spigel | Posted in Field Notes, Grad Studentism | Comments Off