About Geoffrey J.D. Hewings
Hewings major research efforts are directed toward modeling of urban, regional and inter-regional economic systems. Much of this work is based on a set of econometric-input-output models that have been developed for several metropolitan areas and states in the US as well as several regions in Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia and Japan. These models have been integrated with a transportation network model (in collaboration with Professor T. John Kim) to address issues of measurement of earthquake impacts in the US. In collaboration with Professor Kieran Donaghy, the Chicago model is being integrated with a set of pollution generating models to form the basis of a decision-support tool to address redevelopment options for the Calumet region, an old industrialized corridor, in Chicago. In Brazil, the model system has been linked with water and energy allocation modules to optimize allocation under conditions of scarcity. Theoretical work remains directed to issues of economic structure and structural change interpreted through input-output, social accounting and general equilibrium models.
Much of this work is carried out in the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (REAL), of which Hewings was the founding director until 2016. REAL also prepares the Crain’s Chicago Index, a monthly forecasting index for the metropolitan economy that appears in Crain’s Chicago Business. Over the past decade, REAL has conducted a number of impact studies on Chicago, Illinois, and Midwestern economies. For example, the Monet Exhibition, the Democratic National Convention, high speed rail, international tourism, and the role of exports on occupational demands.
Students working in REAL are expected to have or to acquire a strong background in econometric methods (especially spatial econometrics), statistics and time series analysis as well as regional science methods and transportation systems analysis. A weekly seminar series provides an opportunity for students to present the findings of research as well as research presented by visiting and resident faculty. Considerable effort is directed to assisting students in professional preparation for public engagement, teaching, contract research, and presentations at professional meetings. REAL alumni are currently working for the World Bank, InterAmerican Development Bank, federal and state government agencies, and in universities in several countries.
Research and publications
Ongoing and upcoming research
Dr. Hewings major research interests lie in the field of urban and regional economic analysis with a focus on the design, implementation, and application of regional economic models. He has devoted considerable time to the way in which these models might become useful in policy formation and evaluation. In addition to the continuing development of regional econometric-input-output models for a number of US states and metropolitan areas, Hewings is working on several modeling projects in Brazil, Colombia, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. Recent work in the Midwest, Brazil, and Korea has focused on linking regional macro models with transportation network models to explore impacts of unexpected events (earthquakes), expansion of transportation infrastructure, and the impacts of port efficiency. At the metropolitan scale, attention has been directed to the estimation of intra-metropolitan flows of goods, people, income, and consumption expenditures within the Chicago region to measure the changing degree of interdependence. Theoretical work remains directed to issues of economic structure and structural change interpreted through input-output, social accounting, and general equilibrium models. The issues of aging, immigration, and general demographic challenges to development have been explored in a series of published papers and book chapters.
Selected publications
Eduardo A. Haddad, Jaime Bonet and Geoffrey J.D. Hewings (eds.) (2023) The Colombian Economy and its Regional Structural Challenges, Advances in Spatial Sciences, Springer Nature.
Julián Ramajo, Miguel Márquez, and Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, (2024) “Addressing spatial dependence when estimating technical efficiency: A spatialized data envelopment analysis of regional productive performance in the European Union,” Growth and Change, 55(1) https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12711
Haozhi Pan, Yongling Yao, Yue Ming, Hong Zhou and Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, (2024) “Whither Less is More? Understanding the Contextual and Configurational Conditions of Polycentricity to Improve Urban Agglomeration Efficiency,” Cities, 149, 104884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2024104884
Arnab Bhattacharjee, Adrian Pabst, Tibor Szendrei and Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, (2024) “NiReMS: A regional model at household level combining spatial econometrics with dynamic microsimulation,” Spatial Economic Analysis, 19(3), 436-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/17421772.2024.2333978
Qi Guo, Yi Zhou, Haoyue Feng, and Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, (2025) “How Did Chinese Firms Recover From the 2008 Financial Crisis? From The Perspective of Local Economic Growth Targets,” Regional Studies, 59:1, 2354367. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2024.2354367
De Souza, Kênia, Edson Domingues and Geoffrey J.D. Hewings (2025) “Economic Consequences of Eliminating Gender Discrimination in the Labor Market,” Economic Systems Research, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/09535314.2024.2437365