Raymond J.G.M. Florax

Raymond J.G.M. Florax (1956) holds degrees in economics and sociology from universities in his native country, The Netherlands. He joined Purdue and the Agricultural Economics Department in 2005. He is also associated with the Department of Spatial Economics at the VU University in Amsterdam, where he formerly coordinated the department’s MASTER-point research group engaged in research on meta-analysis in spatial, transport, and environmental economics. At Purdue he is engaged in researching and teaching topics at the interface of economics, space, health and the environment, and he has a keen interest in developing and applying new statistical techniques for spatial data. Dr. Florax is an active member of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI), and served a ten-year tenure as editor-in-chief of their flagship journal “Papers in Regional Science.” He has held various administrative offices, including President of the University Council at Wageningen Agricultural University, and has been advisor of the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis. He is a fellow of the Tinbergen Institute (TI), the Spatial Econometrics Association (SEA), the Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS) and formerly the Netherlands Network of Economics (NAKE), an editorial board member of four regional science journals, and he has been visiting professor at universities in San Diego and Tucson in the US, Barcelona in Spain, and Hamilton in New Zealand. Dr. Florax was recently awarded the European Investment Bank - European Prize in Regional Science, which is the highest research award of the European Regional Science Association for life-long contributions to regional science and related spatial studies.

His research deals with spatial data analysis, spatial econometrics, spatial and environmental modeling, and meta-analysis. He has published widely on various topics in these areas, and authored books and contributions to edited volumes and journal articles, in addition to editing collected volumes and special journal issues. Dr. Florax is ranked among the world’s top-5% economists on RePEc. His work has received 1,000+ citations on the Social Science Citation Index, and over 6,000 on Google Scholar.

Professor Florax has extensive experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate classes, and has been the advisor of numerous Master and Ph.D. students. Recently taught classes and workshops cover the areas of spatial econometrics, urban and regional economics, and meta-analysis.

His latest books/special issues are:

Contributions to Spatial Econometrics, International Regional Science Review 37(3), 2014 (special issue with Yong Bao and Julie Le Gallo).

Improving Energy Efficiency through Technology: Trends, Investment Behaviour and Policy Design, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2011 (ed. vol. with Henri L.F. de Groot and Peter Mulder).

Advances in Spatial Econometrics: Methodology, Tools and Applications, Berlin: Springer Verlag, 2004 (ed. vol. with Luc Anselin and Serge J. Rey).

Awards & Honors

(2014) European Prize in Regional Science. European Investment Bank.

(2011) Fellow of the Tinbergen Institute. Tinbergen Institute.

(2015) Fellow of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI). Regional Science Association International (RSAI).

(2014) EIB-ERSA 2014 Award. European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Regonal Science Association (ERSA).

(2011) Fellow of the Tinbergen Institute. Tinbergen Institute (TI), The Netherlands.

(2007) Fellow of the Spatial Econometrics Association. Spatial Econometrics Association (SEA).

(2006) Fellow of the Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS). Wageningen University and Research Centre, The Netherlands.

(2000) Fellow Netherlands Network of Economics. Netherlands Network of Economics (NAKE).

(1993) First Prize International Dissertation Competition. Regional Science Association International (RSAI).

Selected Publications

Delgado, M. S., & Florax, R. (2015). Difference-in-Differences Techniques for Spatial Data: Autocorrelation and Spatial Interaction. Economics Letters, 137(2015), 123-126. Retrieved from dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2015.10.035

Bao, Y., Florax, R., & Le Gallo, J. (2014). Contributions to Spatial Econometrics, Special Issue International Regional Science Review (37). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Motamed, M., Florax, R. G., & Masters, W. (2014). Agriculture, Transportation and the Timing of Urbanization: Global Analysis at the Grid Cell Level. Journal of Economic Growth, 19(3), 339-368.

Ward, P., Florax, R. G., & Flores-Lagunes, A. (2014). Climate Change and Agricultural Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Spatial Sample Selection Model. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 41(2), 199-226.

Josephson, A., Ricker-Gilbert, J., & Florax, R. G. (2014). How Does Population Density Influence Agricultural Intensification and Productivity? The Case of Ethiopia. Food Policy, 48, 142-152.

Lambert, D., Xu, W., & Florax, R. G. (2014). Partial Adjustment Analysis of Income and Jobs, and Growth Regimes in the Appalachian Region with Smooth Transition Spatial Process Models. International Regional Science Review, 37(3), 328-364.

Pede, V., Florax, R. G., & Lambert, D. (2014). Spatial Econometric STAR Models: Lagrange Multiplier Tests, Monte Carlo Simulations and an Empirical Application. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 49, 118-128.

Beckhusen, J., Florax, R. G., Poot, J., & Waldorf, B. (2013). Attracting Global Talent and Then What? Overeducated Immigrants in the US. Journal of Regional Science, 53(5), 834-854.

Brown, J., Lambert, D., & Florax, R. G. (2013). Firm Birth, Death and Persistence: Creative Destruction and the Spatial Distribution of U.S. Manufacturing Establishments, 2000-2006. Economic Geography, 89(3), 203-226.

Beckhusen, J., Florax, R. G., De Graaff, T., Poot, J., & Waldorf, B. (2013). Living and Working in Ethnic Enclaves: Language Proficiency of Immigrants in U.S. Metropolitan Areas. Papers in Regional Science, 92(2), 305-328.