Economics & Geospatial Sciences

Geospatial Analysis Minor

The HSU Economic Department has a dedicated team with a variety of qualified professors all of whom emphasize the importance of sustainability and its context in terms of Economic Theory and application. The University also has an excellent Geospatial Sciences department, which offers a Geospatial Analysis Minor that is applicable to a multitude of disciplines.

This minor requires five additional courses:

Geospatial Concepts (GSP 101)
Introduction to Remote Sensing (GSP 216)
Geographic Information Science (GSP 270)
Cartography (GSP 316)

As well as your choice of one additional upper-level course. These courses give students the ability to work with GIS software to extract, interpret, and manipulate spatial data to create well-designed maps for communicating ideas and to form conclusions from a unique perspective. With this minor, you will gain a tangible skill that is applicable to a variety of careers and a great asset to bring to the job market. The combination of these disciplines allows students to engage in the expanding field of geospatial analytics from an economic perspective as a way of promoting sustainable development.

A detailed description of this Minor and its requirements can be found Here.

Use in Economics

Economics is a very integrated discipline, often requiring understanding in social, economic, and ecological processes, particularly when attempting to promote sustainable development and policies. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) allow economists to spatially relate socio-economic activity and other factors within a given area, this information can then be used to forecast possible outcomes and suggest new policies or firm decisions based on these analyses.

Possible Applications:

One could forecast the geospatial extent to which a foreclosed home has on the local housing market by analyzing similar scenarios and averaging out the scale and extent of these impacts.
Firms could use a spatial economist to determine the best location for a storefront. The analyst could take into account the demographic make-up of an area, the distance to complementary institutions and public infrastructures, geological factors, etc. to determine what might be the most profitable or least risky location to set up shop.
From a public welfare perspective GIS allows users to discover new variables impacting socioeconomic decision-making and outcomes, isolate the symptoms, and suggest policy changes.
In terms of sustainability, GIS allows analysts to look at the spatial relationship between economic development and local ecology, providing policymakers with the information to make more environmentally sustainable decisions.

Within these frameworks and others, there are countless ways to use these two disciplines in conjunction. All of this can be done remotely and with as many variables and as much precision as necessary and feasible for the given project.

Examples From an HSU Student