Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry

Current and Previous Grant Holder's

Soomi Lee

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Racial Disparities of the Paycheck Protection Program: Focusing on Structural Differences in Banking Infrastructure

This project examines the distributional outcomes of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was implemented by the U.S. federal government to preserve jobs in small businesses in response to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. In particular, this project aims to investigate PPP’s distributional outcomes with respect to racial disparities.

The primary goal of PPP was to support cash flows to businesses as quickly as possible, and it achieved this by distributing $700 billion in 100% forgivable loans through over 5,000 financial institutions within 24 days in April 2020. As the PPP utilized the private banking network, it is likely that regional banking market characteristics influenced PPP loan access and distribution. While previous studies have reported mixed results regarding racial disparities in PPP loan distribution, it is important to revisit this issue due to its significance.

One of the most important reasons is that documented disparities may merely reflect the pre-pandemic differences in revenues and structural factors rather than the policy itself. Pandemic aid policies aim to maintain the pre-pandemic status quo instead of addressing the existing structural biases that cause racial disparities. This project plans to distinguish pre-pandemic structural factors from the design features of PPP to clarify confusion in the literature on PPP and to provide insights to policymakers for preparing for future disasters.

“I am grateful for the support from the RSA and for becoming part of the RSA network of researchers and practitioners to make a difference. I am looking forward to sharing my work and contributing to the RSA community.”

Principal investigator: Soomi Lee

Soomi Lee is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration at the University of La Verne. She teaches research design and quantitative methods, public economics, public policy analysis, and urban studies. Her research interests include state and local public finance, fiscal institutions, tax policy, redistributive policies, and urban economic resilience. Her work appeared in Urban Studies, Urban Affairs Review, Regional Studies, Journal of Socioeconomics, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, Public Finance Review, Basic Income Studies, and other outlets. She is a recipient of several grants and best paper awards. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics and Political Science from the Claremont Graduate University in 2011.

Coro Chasco

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Green Patents in the Eurozone

The project presented here looks at several highly relevant issues that are interrelated and require a joint approach: innovation, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, innovative investment is considered a particularly relevant topic, since from the perspective of private companies, it can increase revenue, reduce costs, or increase their production capacity. On the side of public management, it can also bring solutions to complex problems and increase the quality of life for civil society. Secondly, the advent of problems related to climate factors and pollution can imply adverse results for businesses in various dimensions. In fact, consumers’ perception of companies’ actions towards the environment is increasingly relevant in the market. In this scenario, “green innovations” are those that observe the premises of sustainable growth. Thirdly, with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the allocation of public resources for innovation has changed, and the management of resources itself has been rethought by managers. However, this period has allowed the generation of opportunities for some companies, especially in the health sector and some niches of the service segment, generating new business alternatives.

In view of the above, the main objective of this investigation is to evaluate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected patents aimed at mitigating climate change. Hence, the main interest of this project is to identify the trajectory of the volume of green patent applications and publications before and after the pandemic. Through the construction of maps, indicators, and statistical measures, comparative analyses will be built to aid in the identification of this scenario involving the member countries of the European Union and regions within the same country.

The results of this research will be useful for various audiences. Private company managers will map regions that still lack innovations for climate change and investigate their potential in a market niche, based on regional specificities. Policymakers will be able to revise current public policies and plan new actions in the field of sustainable innovation. Civil society’s gain will consist of observing whether public resources sponsored for sustainable innovations are being properly applied and distributed in their corresponding regions, as well as whether the scenario is more favorable for sustainable technologies over time.

You can read their recent Regions article by clicking the link: Green patents: instruments against climate change and related social inequalities

“We greatly appreciate the support we received from the RSA Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions, and Industry. The grant allows the initiation of a research agenda on European green patents from a regional perspective. Specifically, the authors hope to contribute to the debate on patents for climate change and generate useful information for decision-making by public and private managers. The researchers thank the Regional Studies Association for their vote of confidence in selecting this proposal. We hope to contribute to the growth of the debate promoted by this community.”

Principal Investigator: Coro Chasco

Coro Chasco (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM) earned her PhD and graduated with honours in Applied Economic Modelling at UAM in 2002. Ambassador to Spain and Fellow (FeRSA) of the Regional Studies Association (RSA), she is currently accredited Full Professor and co-editor of the journal of Spatial Economic Analysis. She runs the Spatial and Regional Economics research group (ECONRES) and has received different prizes and distinctions. She has published in top-ranked journals like “Economic Geography”, “Papers in Regional Science”, “Regional Science and Urban Economics”, “Spatial Economic Analysis”, “Annals of Regional Science”, and “Mathematics”. She published 46 papers in WoS and Scopus databases, 3 books, 17 book chapters, and many other disseminating scientific publications. Dr Chasco works on spatial econometrics and spatial analysis methods, with applications to regional growth, housing prices, environment valuation, tourism, and quality of life. Her intense academic activity has led Professor Chasco to analyze in depth the regional and local reality of Spain, Europe, and Latin America through a wide range of methods and models of spatial geographic analysis.

Team Member: Fernando H. Taques

Fernando Taques has completed bachelor’s degrees in Economics, Business Administration, and Production Engineering, as well as an incomplete bachelor’s degree in Statistics. He obtained a master’s degree in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Mackenzie Presbyterian University (Brazil), with a cotutelle period at the University of Minho (Portugal), and a research internship at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

Currently, he is doing post-doctoral research at the Federal University of Pernambuco (Brazil) and the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), the latter linked to the research group ECONRES (Spatial and Regional Economics). He has teaching experience in courses on Economics, Accounting, and International Relations, all of which were held in Brazil.

His research experience is reflected in his multidisciplinary background. He has published 23 articles in academic journals, two book chapters, and 47 papers presented at conferences, resulting in an H-index (Google Scholar) of 5 for his works’ citations. His research publications include regional studies, organizational innovation, innovation economics, and welfare economics. Currently, he is interested in geography of innovation, particularly patent innovation with spatial geographic analysis techniques using intra and inter-country approaches for different types of innovation, sectors, and regions.

Vasco Barbosa

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Understanding Urban Differences in the Spread of Covid-19 and Socio-economic Inequalities: Bogotá, Colombia vs Chenai, India

This exploratory study seeks to understand the impacts of Covid-19, considering urban socio-spatial patterns and the context of socio-economic inequalities in the two boroughs of Colombian capital city of Bogotá compared with the city of Chenai, India. Based on the socio-economic characterisation and aggregated data on mortality and infection levels, this research seeks to understand the impacts of the virus in the two cities, which differ greatly in socio-economic terms and urban planning with respect to safe and equitable mobility through the application of field interviews complemented with the space syntax approach.

“This grant awarded is an excellent opportunity for international cooperation with colleagues from UK, Portugal, Spain, Colombia and India, as well as the possibility of crossing scientific fields between public health and urban planning.”

Principal investigator: Vasco Barbosa

He is associate professor, expert member at the European Science Foundation and the European Commission. He was a post‐doctorate in Urban and Spatial Planning at the University of Trás‐os‐Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal (2017-2018), and the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil (20142018) with cooperation of UCL. He has a PhD in territorial planning and rural development (2013) and an MSc in management and planning of sustainable land use (2011) from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He is also an architect who graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Lusíada University, Porto, Portugal, in 2000.During these years, won prizes in international competitions in architecture in the areas of contemporary architecture and urban planning. Current research interests: Spatial planning; Land use planning; Space syntax; Urban and rural development; Green infrastructure; heritage and landscape; Space Syntax.

Ulf Thoene

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Implementation of Digital Public Policy in Six Local Administrations in the Colombian Meta Department

This exploratory research project seeks to furnish academics in regional studies and broader audiences with crucial insights into the Covid-19 pandemic and how this has impacted the organisational processes of the public administrative apparatus on a municipal level in Colombia. As a result, public administration institutions have strengthened their virtual communication channels with citizens using different platforms to advance their activities and, in parallel, also advance the modernisation of internal processes and activities with other public and private entities.

“I am incredibly grateful to the Regional Studies Association community for allowing me to strengthen international cooperation with colleagues from Colombia and Spain and showcase a Colombian case study.”

Principal investigator: Ulf Thoene

Team Members

Roberto Garcia-Alonso, Universidad de Salmanca, Spain

Diego Davila-Benadives, Universidad Santo Tomas, Colombia

Bach Nguyen

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Manage Well-Being to be Innovative in the Covid-19: A study of BAME Small Business Owners in the West Midlands Region, UK

Principal Investigator: Bach Nguyen, Aston University, UK
Team member: Hai-Anh Tran, Aston University, UK

The Covid pandemic has caused chaos for many UK businesses, especially small enterprises. The Enterprise Research Centre (2021) suggests that the UK economy loses about 61,500 small firms due to the pandemic. Accordingly, the recipe for survival is a thorough transformation to adapt products, services, and business models in a new climate. “Pivoting” has become a watchword for UK small businesses as they have to find a way to deal with the crisis and prepare for recovery post-Covid 19. However, not every company is willing or financially able to pivot. Against this backdrop, this project conducts two studies: (1) an investigation of the large-scale Longitudinal Small Business Survey and (2) an experimental study to explore the effects of financial and informational support on the UK SMEs’ pivot capacity during and after Covid. More importantly, the project also examines how different regional factors (e.g., regional well-being) and entrepreneurs’ characteristics (e.g., mindset, ethnic group, well-being) influence the effects of financial and informational support on SMEs’ pivots.

We greatly appreciate the support we received from the RSA Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions, and Industry. The grant will help us to develop timely research that serves as a trusted guide for decision-makers to support SMEs in the UK (i.e., focusing on financial and informational support) to overcome the challenges of Covid 19. The project also adds new knowledge and understanding of regionals’ and entrepreneurs’ characteristics that influence SMEs’ pivot capacity. We have been interested in the idea since the Covid pandemic happened, and we are delighted that the Regional Studies Association has trust in its values and contributions.

Nicola Pontarollo

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Build back better cities for aged people in Europe

Covid-19 outbreak has affected mostly people in the second half of their lives, at risk of isolation and loneliness, and whose well-being has deteriorated severely.

In this context, the research project aims to assess the suitability of European cities to elderly people, identifying needs important for their well-being even before the Covid-19 pandemic, but that have become more and more important nowadays. To do so we employ the Perception Survey on the Quality of Life 2019 representative for the population of each of the 83 European cities in the sample, comprising a total of 58,100 complete interviews. Regression analyses will allow us to identify what elements of cities were perceived to be the most relevant for the elderly already before the pandemic and have to be strengthened.

Our results will inform policy makers about which areas have to be prioritized and which kind of choices could greatly improve the urban liveability for the elderly, bearing in mind the recent Covid-19 implications. The analysis is critical to discover how cities should be re-organized, especially accounting for the peculiar necessities of this frail age group, bearing the brunt of a pandemic on this scale. In fact, it is essential to develop people-centered communities able to foster the ability of older people to age in place, and that best practices could be spread in light of latest events. The assessment should provide a contribution to European decision-making processes headed to improve the perception of age-friendliness of urban environments, implementing a paradigm for reference, given the great heterogeneity of features characterizing European cities.

“We are thankful that the Regional Studies Association awarded us with the Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions and Industry. The grant will enhance research agendas on the issue of ageing population, within the context of European cities. Bearing in mind that people in the second half of their lives were the hardest hit by the pandemic, our research project aims to highlight different scenarios of how the Covid-19 had an impact on the urban setting and which interventions could boost its senior-friendliness.”

Team members

Principal investigator: Nicola Pontarollo

Nicola Pontarollo is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Brescia, Italy. After his PhD he has been an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of the North (Antofagasta, Chile), Postdoc researcher at the University of Milan-Bicocca (Milan, Italy) and Statistical Officer at the Joint Research Centre, European Commission. He also carried out visiting and teaching periods at the University of Cuenca (Cuenca, Ecuador) and the Suleyman Demirel University (Almaty, Kazakhstan). His scientific interests include the study of regional resilience and subnational economic growth. Recently, his research has focused on the analysis of the geography of discontent, subjective well-being and material deprivation. He is the author of several publications on international specialized journals and volumes.

Team member: Maria Laura Parisi

Maria Laura Parisi is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics and Management of the University of Brescia, Italy. Her recent research interests include income inequality, poverty and material deprivation; smartworking and the effect of the pandemics; labor market polarization and productivity; the silver economy. She is the author of several publications on international specialized journals and volumes. She is currently a co-investigator in a consortium of three Italian universities on a PRIN 2020-2023 project funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research

Research assistant: Carolina Foglia

Carolina Foglia is a recently graduated master student at the University of Brescia (Brescia, Italy), enrolled in the PhD program of Economics and Institutions at the University of Perugia (Perugia, Italy). She obtained a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a master’s degree in Management at the University of Brescia. Her first article was published in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space and analyzed the suitability of European cities to host an increasing number of elderly people.

Nevena Nancheva

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: Ethnic Food Entrepreneurship and Migrant Inclusion in the UK: the Impact of the Pandemic

Ethnic food businesses are often the first point of interaction of all migrants with their local communities, and thus capture in numerous subtle ways the cultural intersections between the local and the foreign. They are a novel and unique site for understanding migrant inclusion.

Beyond migration, however, ethnic food shops are essential businesses in the high street and are indicative of the receptive health of a community, as well as of the economic recovery capacity of the region.

This project aims to explore comparatively the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on small food businesses run by migrants in the UK (across the South, North and Greater London) in order to take account of regional differences and gain broader insights into local policy gaps, business environments and community inclusion.

The purpose of the project is threefold:

To identify ethnic food entrepreneurs’ pandemic-adaptation strategies.
To identify policy gaps in the support local authorities provide for ethnic food entrepreneurs while they navigate the post-Covid-19 challenges.
To understand how ethnic food businesses (can) contribute to community inclusion, given that migrant populations (and especially women migrants), as well as BME groups (often second and third-generation migrants) have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic in terms of food security, labour market inclusion, and marginalisation in their communities.

In collaboration with migrant organisations, local authorities and local chambers of commerce, the project will conduct interviews and focus groups (remotely and in person, public health permitting) with migrant food entrepreneurs and their employees, and will put stakeholders together in a policy lab to address gaps and co-create solutions to identified problems.

“I am thrilled to be part of the Regional Studies Association’s vibrant community of experts! I am looking forward to engaging in dialogue with fellow researchers, and to communicating my research findings to a wider audience. This grant will allow me to extend my network and build up my project comparatively.”

Jana Kleibert

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: International Higher Education in Crisis: Covid-19 Impacts and Strategies

Globalisation’s challenges include a slowing of global trade caused partially by protectionist economic policies and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted human mobility and cross-border trade. This research project assesses how the current crisis impacts and reworks existing economic geographies, taking the higher education sector as a critical example through which to understand broader restructurings.
International higher education is profoundly affected by these shifts, as international students are unable to travel to their overseas campus locations and university campuses in many countries have shifted to online teaching. During a high-phase of globalisation, many universities have set up international branch campuses and overseas partnerships to teach international students abroad. On the one hand, foreign campuses of universities are embedded in multiple flows and mobilities, including fly-in staff and international students, so that their business models may have come under serious challenge and might even be closed entirely, following budget costs of universities for non-core activities. On the other hand, commercial presences of higher education providers abroad could be envisioned as an ‘insurance policy’ for institutions that are able to upkeep teaching of international students in their home countries.
This research project investigates the shifting geographies of higher education following the pandemic through understanding how international student mobility and higher education provider mobility are shifting. It does so through a survey of internationalisation managers at home institutions and of branch campus managers in situ in host countries. The findings will provide insights assessing beyond short-term impacts to understand the changing strategies of transnationally operating universities.

The globalisation of higher education is coming under increasing pressure. I am excited to research the regional impacts of Covid-19 related travel restrictions on universities with this RSA grant. How affected are internationally networked universities throughout the crisis and how is the role of offshore campuses changing?

Enrico Vanino

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: The Role of Industrial Density in the Health and Economic consequences of the COVID-19 Crisis

Research Team: Dr. Enrico Vanino (Dept. of Economics – University of Sheffield) and Dr. Carlo Corradini (Dept. of Management – University of Birmingham).

This research project will follow an interdisciplinary perspective to analyse the spatial dynamics between density, the structure of localised economies and the health and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering novel evidence on the different effects exerted by population density and the agglomeration of economic activities.

Using newly available big data about both day and night-time satellite imaging, together with information of the location of all businesses in the UK, we will be able to capture population and workers mobility across space, and thus to disentangle the effect of industrial agglomerations from residential and commercial density on the health and economic consequences of the pandemic.

This research project is part of a new line of empirical investigation that uses information from unstructured forms of big data to fill the gaps in more conventional datasets. It will provide important insights not just to better understand determinants of diffusion of the virus, but equally to understand which areas could remain more at risk. This is essential to better design future economic policies to prevent further negative economic shocks and lockdown strategies, and to target more precisely the regions and industrial districts more vulnerable from a business as well as a contagion perspective.

We are honoured of the support received by the RSA Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions and Industry. This grant will support our research project, by bringing together expertise on the latest spatial econometric modelling, granular spatial information on industrial and occupational structure in the UK, and the new opportunities offered by big data in the area of satellite imaging. We hope that, thanks to the RSA support, we will be able to provide important insights on the determinants of the diffusion of the virus. This in turn could help policy makers to better design future economic policies to prevent further negative economic shocks, and to target more precisely the regions and industrial districts more vulnerable from a business as well as a contagion perspective.

Ilaria Mariotti

Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry: The growth of remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic and the renewed role of coworking spaces in peripheral areas

Research Team: Prof. Ilaria Mariotti (Dept. of Architecture and Urban Studies – Politecnico di Milano) and Dr. Dante Di Matteo (Dept. of Architecture and Urban Studies – Politecnico di Milano).

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has rapidly altered the habits and lifestyle of worldwide populations and will have effects in the medium-long run. The need of «social distancing» has encouraged a reschedule of the working methods, and it was particularly visible in the service industry, where remote working (RW) achieved the limelight. When the ‘Second place’ (office) cannot be used for work, and the home (‘First place’) is not the best option (i.e. it is small, crowded and noise), the ‘Third place’ (i.e. coworking space – CS) may better meet the worker’s needs. In Norway and Spain, the government has promoted the location of public CSs in peripheral areas with the purpose to foster RW, thus reducing commuting towards urban areas, congestion, and pollution, and facilitating work-life balance.

Within this context, the project focuses on the changes in the way of working and aims at exploring whether and how CSs located in peripheral/suburban areas can support and supply these changes. The aim is to develop a pilot study of a CS model in peripheral and/or suburban areas in Lombardy region, which has been severely hit by the pandemic, hosts a significant share of commuting flows towards the capital city of Milan as well as a significant share of remote workers. The developed CS model, supporting and supplying the working changes, will be tested through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders – including the members of the CA18214 “New working spaces and impact on the periphery” (https://www.nmbu.no/en/projects/new-working-spaces), of which Ilaria Mariotti is Chair, and Dante Di Matteo member of the Italian Team-. The pilot study, which can be able to be repeated at national scale in peripheral/suburban areas, might help policy makers to frame tailored policy tools to face the post pandemic and, in case, also a new wave of the Covid-19.

We are grateful and thankful for the support that we have received from the ‘RSA Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions and Industry’. This grant will allow us to develop our research project, which concerns a novel phenomenon that will lead to long-term effects. Moreover, this opportunity will enable us to develop a pilot study, which may be replicated at the national and international scale, with a focus on peripheral/suburban areas, as well as supporting policy makers to frame tailored policy tools to face the post-Pandemic area.

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Grants

Watch the recording of our webinar and learn more about the Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry – 21.04.2021, Grants and Funding: An Introduction to the Small Grant Scheme by the RSA – Ron Boschma (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) and Jana Kleibert (Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space, Germany):

The Regional Studies Association (RSA) is committed to supporting the global community in researching and disseminating evidence on how regions, cities and industry are addressing the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). This Small Grant Scheme has been launched to support our community in this work. The money to fund this scheme has been repurposed from the Research Network scheme and Travel Grant scheme funding and has been topped up to allow more grants to be awarded.

In offering this funding, the RSA is seeking to promote and encourage research and dissemination activities, both within and across trans-national borders and to further the overall aims and objectives of the Association. Examples of research projects could cover economic, environmental, social, political, cultural, behavioural and technological change, and address conceptual, methodological, empirical or policy impacts. Topics could address specific countries, regions or cities, providing that wider implications for global audiences are addressed.

The award in brief:

The value of the award is up to £4,000 (c. $5,300; c. €4,700).
This award is open to single applicants or team of researchers.
All applicants must be based within an eligible higher education institution (HEI) and must be a current individual (non-corporate) member of the Regional Studies Association and remain a member throughout the duration of the grant and reporting period.
Where possible, teams of researchers should include an early career researcher.
This Scheme aims to support a discrete piece of regional studies and/or regional science research on the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on regions cities and industry.
Six awards will be made subject to the quality of applications.
The award has a maximum research time span of up to 9 months and reporting conditions apply. The reporting conditions have to be fulfilled within 11 months from the date of the award letter.
In addition to the grant sum, the RSA will cover one Article Publishing Charge (APC) for the journal Regional Studies, Regional Science.
RSA Members may only hold one RSA grant at a time.
The full Terms and Conditions governing the grant are available in the Handbook.

Forthcoming deadline: 5th September 2022

If you have any questions please send us an email to lesa.reynolds@RegionalStudies.org

Apply for Small Grant Scheme

Below, you can watch two webinars that took place within our Regions Cities Industry webinar series, the research was funded by the Small Grant Scheme on Pandemics, Cities, Regions & Industry.

The Pandemic Risk and Recovery Economic Tool

The Post-pandemic Economic Transformation of Cities and Regions