Meric S. Gertler
Meric Gertler is an exceptional scholar. He has earned a
substantial international reputation for his original contributions
to research in economic geography and in the associated fields of
economics, management studies, and political science. The breadth
and scope of his work is impressive. His early research on capital
markets and regional development, summarized in a book on Regional
Dynamics, contributed to setting the research agenda in regional
analysis at that time. Since then he has made path-setting
contributions in numerous areas of the discipline, including
contributions to the study of flexible production, the innovation
process in manufacturing, the social foundations of the spatial
clustering of firms and the evolution of learning regions, and more
broadly to our understanding of the changing geographical
foundations of the new urban economy. Several of his articles are
now among the most highly cited references in economic geography in
the international academic literature.
His latest work, initially outlined in a book on Manufacturing
Culture: The Governance of Industrial Practice, examines the social
and cultural norms, attitudes and institutional behaviour that form
the core process of learning and knowledge accumulation. These
factors both underpin and direct the production process and the
ability of firms, sectors and regions to innovate and to compete in
the global economy. One current project involves the comparative
analysis of Canadian industrial systems and clusters, and documents
the importance for economic success of the social networking and
interactions that take place within these clusters.
Parallel research by Dr. Gertler and his students has also
played a leading role in documenting the emergence of creative
economies in city-regions across Ontario and Canada, and the
benchmarking of these developments in comparison to city-regions in
the U.S., U.K. and other European countries. This latter research
has demonstrated that cultural industries as a group have become
one of the prime engines of growth in urban economies and a leading
indicator of the revitalization of older city neighbourhoods and
employment districts. In particular, his work has illustrated the
key role that quality of life and diversity play in attracting
talent to a region.
This new approach, emphasizing the production, use and transfer
of knowledge through innovation and learning, set in the context
that recognizes the crucial role of cultural norms and
institutional practices in the application of that knowledge, is
certain to be one of the original contributions to our
understanding of urban economic geography in the 21st century. His
research has also made significant contributions to public policy
debates on innovation, creativity and the changing economies of
city regions in Canada and abroad.
The outstanding quality of Dr. Gertler's scholarly research and
writing, and his varied contributions to both theory and practice,
has already been recognized by other institutions. He currently
holds the Goldring Chair in Canadian Studies in University College
at the University of Toronto, and in 2005 was elected as a fellow
of Academy II of the Royal Society of Canada. He is frequently
called upon to give visiting lectures and to provide policy advice
to universities, research institutes and governments in other
countries. He is fully deserving of the CAG Award for Scholarly
Distinction.
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