Welcome!
I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan. My research centers on urban and regional economic development, asking what factors determine why some places are more prosperous than others and how the economic conditions in which people live shape their life outcomes.
I also study the consequences of rising income inequality for American life, documenting how the concentration of economic resources among the very wealthy has reduced upward mobility and exacerbated racial and regional income disparities.
Beyond my academic research, I help run Reviving Growth Keynesianism, an effort to derive lessons for today from the economic thought of previous eras.
I can be reached by email at rmanduca@umich.edu or on Twitter at @robertmanduca
Publications
My full CV is available here.
Lynch, T. M., and Manduca, R. 2024. Beyond Local and Traded: Evidence for a Third Industry Market Area Type and Implications for Regional Economic Development. Economic Development Quarterly.
Manduca, R., Anampa Castro, C., Ochoa, A. 2024. Social Transfer Programs as Non-Spatially-Targeted Methods of Reducing Interregional Geographic Inequality. Social Service Review.
Manduca, R., Hell, M., Adermon, A., Blanden, J., Bratberg, E., Gielen, A. C., van Kippersluis, H., Lee, K. B., Machin, S., Munk, M. D., Nybom, M, Ostrovsky, Y., Rahman, S., Sirniö, O. 2024. Measuring Absolute Income Mobility: Lessons from North America and Europe. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Manduca, R. 2024. “I Was Open to Anywhere, It’s Just This Was Easier:” Social Structure, Location Preferences, and the Geographic Concentration of Elite College Graduates. Qualitative Sociology.
Projects
You can explore my research here