People > Faculty ProfiLes > Karen Polenske

Q. Who most influenced your work as a scholar of international development and why?

Polenske: My parents who continually encouraged me to do new and innovative work and who helped those in our farming community who were in need, regardless of age, sex, or social position, thus instilling in me the value of rural life and the desire to learn. Professor Wassily W. Leontief, who was my dissertation advisor, for his confidence in having me lead the regional work at the Harvard Economic Research Project and his desire to present the most complex issues in as simple a way as feasible.

Q. What is your research focus?

Polenske: I currently conduct research in three areas. (1) comparative analyses of energy use, pollution generation, and industrial-technology options in the People’s Republic of China (China), Brazil, and India; (2) land-recycling in China to examine effects of regional and industrial restructuring on the physical and social infrastructure, and (3) regional implications of fuel use on food security in the United States.

Q. Please tell us about of your most recent publications of note.

Polenske:

"The Technology-Energy-Environmental-Health Chain in China: A Case Study
of Cokemaking", Springer January 2006 (published in Chinese by Higher
Education Press, December 2006)

"The Economic Geography of Innovation",
Cambridge University Press, (published in English, Spring 2007,
forthcoming in Chinese, by Higher Eduction Press, Spring 2009)

Jan Oosterhaven and Karen R. Polenske. 2008. ”Modern Regional Input-Output and Impact Analysis.” In /Advances in Regional Growth and Development Theories/, edited by Roberto Capello and Peter
Nijkamp. Elsevier, Chapter 21.

Zhan Guo, Ning Ai, and Karen R. Polenske. 2008. “Evaluating Environmental and Economic Benefits of Yellow-Dust Storm-Related Policies in North China.” * */International Journal of Sustainable
Development and World Ecology/ 15 (5): 457-471/./

Ning Ai and Karen R, Polenske. 2008. “Socioeconomic Impact Analysis of Yellow-Dust Storms: A Case Study in Beijing, China.” /Economic Systems Research. /(June) 20(2): 187-203.

Q. What are some of your most recent public lectures?

Polenske: "History of Regional Science" São Paulo, Brazil, March 2008,
"China's Coal, Coke, and Steel Supply Chains, Energy Seminar at FGV, São
Paulo, Brazil, and Instituto Brasileiro De Siderurgia (IBS), Belo
Horizonte, Brazil, March 2008, "Coke and Steel: The Strategic
Significance of their Regional Development in a Global Supply Chain,"
University of Arizona, Tempe, AZ, October 2008