Doctoral Dissertation Research in Geography and Regional Science

在地理学和相关领域的学术文献中经常提到，一个特定地点的决策不仅受到该地点的特点的影响，而且还受到该地点与其他地点之间的关系的影响，但对这些关系的大多数分析都是轶事和描述性的。这一博士论文研究项目将系统地分析靠近城市市场如何影响菲律宾农民投资提高土壤生产力的决定。这一假设将被检验，即投资和市场接近之间的关系是U型的，最大的投资发生在靠近或远离城市中心的地点，而较低的投资水平发生在中等距离的地方。将利用对225个农户的调查和对田间土壤样本的分析来确定距离市场和其他因素对种植哪些作物以及为提高土壤生产力进行了哪些投资的决策。该项目将提供具体的手段来分析旨在同时鼓励经济发展和保持土壤质量的政策的潜在效用，但它将产生更重大的影响，作为一种手段，在农民做出区位决定时，如何区分特定地点的特征与与其他地点的关系。该研究项目也将为有前途的研究生提供一个极好的机会来扩展和完善她的基本研究技能。

Frequent reference is made in the scholarly literature of geography and related fields to the ways in which decision making at a specific site is influenced not only be the characteristics of that site but also by the relationships between that site and other sites, but most analyses of these relationships have been anecdotal and descriptive in nature. This doctoral dissertation research project will systematically analyze how proximity to urban markets affects decisions by Philippine peasant farmers to make investments to increase soil productivity. The hypothesis will be tested that the relationship between investments and market proximity is U-shaped, with maximal investments made at locations that are either close to or far from urban centers, while lower levels of investment are made at intermediate distances. Information from a survey of 225 farm households an analyses of soil samples from fields will be used to determine how proximity to markets and other factors has affected decisions about which crops were planted and what investments were made to improve soil productivity. This project will provide specific means to analyze the potential utility of policies aimed at simultaneously encouraging economic development and maintaining soil quality, but it will have an even more significant impact as a means of distinguishing how characteristics of specific sites are evaluated with respect to relationships with other sites as farmers make locational decisions. The research project also will provide an excellent opportunity for a promising graduate student to expand and refine her basic research skills.