Research Interests

Biography

HBA, MA Western Ontario; PhD Simon Fraser

“I don’t do business that don’t make me smile.” Jimmy Buffett

Therefore, I teach courses on the environment and do research that integrates environmental issues with fun economic activities. To do so, I reoriented my training in economic geography to incorporate the environment and broaden my range of topic areas. I teach courses on sustainable development, environment and business, and environmental governance. I also teach a course on Japan because that’s where I’ve done most of my research and because my sons love sushi.

My research focus is on how competitors cooperate in inter-firm relations, in local and regional settings, in the global commons, and in support of sustainable development. My topic areas include competitive-cooperative relations in the robot, electric vehicle, Japanese houses, precious wood, multi-media, wine, and skiing industries. I’ve also delved into theory. Some of this research has been more fun than others.

PUBLICATIONS

• Hayter, R., Kevin Rees, and Jerry Patchell, J. “High tech ‘Large Firms’ in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia: Congregation without Clustering?” In New Economic Spaces, New Economic Geographies, edited by Richard Le Heron and James Harrington. London: Ashgate, 2004. 15-28.

• Patchell, Jerry and Tony Eastham. “Governance for University-Industry Collaboration in Hong Kong.” In Universities, Knowledge Infrastructure and the Learning Region, edited by Roel Rutten, Frans Boekema, and Elsa Kuijpers, London: Routledge, 2003. 42-68.

• Patchell, Jerry. “Linking Production and Consumption: The co-evolution of interaction systems in the Japanese house industry.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92 (2002): 284-301.

• Patchell, Jerry. "Creating the Japanese Electric Vehicle Industry: the challenges of uncertainty and cooperation." Environment & Planning A 31 (1999): 997-1016. (2013 5 year impact factor 2.485)

• Patchell, Jerry and Roger Hayter. "Japanese Precious Wood and the Paradoxes of Added Value." Geographical Review 87 (1997): 375-395. (2013 5 year impact factor 0.627)

• Patchell, Jerry. "Kaleidoscope Economies: cooperation, competition and control in regional development.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 86 (1996): 481-506. (2013 5 year impact factor 2.466)

• Patchell, Jerry. 1993. "From Production Systems to Learning Systems: lessons from Japan.” Environment and Planning A 25 (1993): 797-815. (2013 5 year impact factor 2.485)