My research interest is spatial economic analysis, particularly on people-based topics.
There is spatial disparity among communities, as well as among the residents of those communities. The personal characteristics of residents, such as physical and mental health, education levels, and the propensity to innovate, in conjunction with national and local policies, affect their individual well-being and the potential for their community to experience economic and social growth. It is these topics, rooted in the characteristics of the residents of a community or region, which I refer to as people-based topics.
To study the manifestation and change of these people-based topics in space, you first need an understanding of the spatial relationship among communities and regions. My dissertation, "The Evolution of the American Urban System: History, Hierarchy, and Contagion," is a step toward a better understanding of the relationship among and growth of American communities. It has two main components. The first is a historical analysis of growth patterns in the American urban system, focusing on the incorporation, location, and growth of cities and towns over the last 120 years. The second is a detailed analysis of how individual characteristics and relationships among urban areas in the United States affected their population over the last 20 years.
As a postdoctoral researcher, the scope of my work broadened, introducing mental health, life expectancy, geographic clustering and co-location, and rural innovation projects to my doctoral work on the American urban system. This research focused on regional trends in people-based issues and their relationship with economic and social development. It dovetails nicely with the extension research I did for the Purdue Center for Regional Development (PCRD) which included creating a fiscal dataset for Indiana, defining and quantifying regional innovation, contributing to a report on rural housing development, and compiling profiles for Indiana counties that contain demographic, economic, and labor force indicators. I also wrote a literature review which provides guidance for conceptualizing and analyzing place-based poverty.
While the majority of my graduate and postdoctoral research focused on the characteristics of people within regions and communities, I have also worked with nationally-representative survey data on health care utilization. My master’s thesis explored the choices vulnerable and non-vulnerable populations of the United States make about the type of health care provider they see and the frequency at which they use health care.
In my current position, my research focus is rural health. Specifically, my work helps broaden our understanding of how people living in rural areas access health care, how that access has changed over time, and how their experience is different from people living in urban locations.
Information on my current work and selected publications follows.
Working Papers
Elizabeth A. Dobis and Stephens, Heather M. 2021. "Do Urban-Rural Interactions Matter for Economic Vitality in U.S. Regions?" Working paper.
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and David McGranahan. 2021. "The Interaction of Health Care Supply and Demand in the United States: regionality of COVID-19 Infections and Deaths" Working Paper.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Anil Hira, Paul D. Gottlieb, Stephan J. Goetz, and Neil Reid. 2020. "Grapes and Wineries in the United States: Geographic Location and Industrial Co-location" In Submission at Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems.
Additional information is available in the Supplemental Material.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Michael S. Delgado, and Raymond J.G.M. Florax. 2018. “Urban Settlement in the United States: Birth, Location, and Growth” Working paper.
Schmidt, Claudia, Elizabeth A. Dobis, and Stephan J. Goetz. 2020. “Beer Trail Development in Pennsylvania” Working paper.
Schmidt, Claudia, Elizabeth A. Dobis, and Stephan J. Goetz. 2020. “What Makes a Beervana? Comparing Asheville and Portland with Potential 'Beer Cities' in Pennsylvania” Working paper.
Schmidt, Claudia, Elizabeth A. Dobis, and Stephan J. Goetz. 2020. “Location Determinants of Pennsylvania Craft Breweries” Working paper.
Gottlieb, Paul D., Elizabeth Dobis, Anil Hira, Stephan J. Goetz, and Neil Reid. 2019. “The ‘New Location Theory’ Applied to Production Agriculture: A Multivariate Approach” Working paper, presented at the 2019 AAEA Annual Meetings.
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Heather M. Stephens, Mark Skidmore, and Stephan J. Goetz. 2020. "Explaining the Spatial Variation in American Life Expectancy" Social Science & Medicine 246: 112759.
Additional information is available in the Online Appendix.
Gottlieb, Paul D., Jennifer R. Weinert, Elizabeth A. Dobis, and Karyn Malinowski. 2020. “The Evolution of Racehorse Clusters in the United States: Geographic Analysis and Implications for Sustainable Agricultural Development” Sustainability 12(2): 494.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Neil Reid, Claudia Schmidt, and Stephan J. Goetz. 2019 “The Role of Craft Breweries in Expanding (Local) Hops Production” Journal of Wine Economics 14(4): 374-382.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Michael S. Delgado, Raymond J.G.M. Florax, and Peter Mulder. 2019. “Hierarchy and Spatial Contagion: Population in American Cities Between 1990 and 2010” Journal of Economic Geography, 20(2): 397-418.
Additional information is available in the Supplemental Appendix.
Cromartie, John, David Nulph, Gary Hart, and Elizabeth Dobis. 2013.”Defining Frontier Areas in the United States” Journal of Maps 9(2):149-153.
Dobis Elizabeth A. 2013. “Dobis, Elizabeth A. ‘A Sociodemographic Analysis of Health Care Utilization in the United States.’ MS Thesis, Purdue University. Outstanding Master's Thesis Honorable Mention” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 95(2): 529-530.
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and Kevin T. McNamara. 2010. “Two Indianas – A Story of Disparate Growth and Opportunity” Purdue Agricultural Economics Report, December.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Dayton M. Lambert, and Kevin T. McNamara. 2010. “Location Determinants of Food Manufacturing in the United States: The Competitiveness of Nonmetropolitan Counties” Purdue Agricultural Economics Report, May.
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and Kevin T. McNamara. 2010. “Indiana Manufacturing: The Changing Face of a Manufacturing State” Purdue Agricultural Economics Report, May.
Book Chapters:
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Lionel J. Beaulieu, and Indraneel Kumar. 2020. "The Study of Poverty in Places: Scope, Scale, and Space" In Rhonda Phillips, Eric Trevan, and Patsy Kraeger, eds. The Research Handbook on Community Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 24-47.
Reid, Neil, Stephan J. Goetz, Elizabeth A. Dobis, Paul D. Gottlieb, and Anil Hira. 2020. "The Impact of the Craft Beer Revolution on the American Hop Industry" In Armin Kratzer and Jutta Kister eds. Rural – Urban Linkages for Sustainable Development. London: Routledge, pp. 126-42.
Government Publications:
Cromartie, J., Elizabeth A. Dobis, Thomas P. Krumel, Jr., David McGranahan, and John Pender. 2020. Rural America at a Glance: 2020 Edition. USDA Economic Research Service EIB-221. December. 6 pp.
Reports, Extension, and Outreach Publications:
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and David McGranahan. 2021. "Rural Death Rates from COVID-19 Surpassed Urban Death Rates in Early September 2020" Chart of Note, USDA Economic Research Service. March 19.
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and David McGranahan. 2021. "Rural Residents Appear to be More Vulnerable to Serious Infection or Death from Coronavirus COVID-19" Amber Waves, February.
Dobis, Elizabeth A., Lionel J. Beaulieu, Andrey Zhalnin, and Indraneel Kumar. 2019. “Dimensions of Indiana Poverty” Indiana Business Review 94(3).
Strohm, Heather, Tanya Hall, Bo Beaulieu, Melinda Grismer, and Elizabeth Dobis. 2016. "An Examination of Rural Housing Development Programs, Issues and Strategies" Purdue Center for Regional Development; Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, Purdue University, December.
Dobis, Elizabeth A. and Lionel J. Beaulieu. 2014-2016. “County Data Snapshots” Purdue Center for Regional Development.
Data SnapShots are demographic and economic profiles and analysis published for several Indiana counties. A more detailed description is available on PCRD's Hometown Collaboration Initiative blog.
Published Data SnapShots are available from the Purdue Center for Regional Development.
Nderitu, David G., Paul V. Preckel, Douglas J. Gotham, and Elizabeth A. Dobis. 2014. "Assessment of the National Prospects for Electricity Generation from Biomass" State Utility Forecasting Group, Purdue University, April.