William Graves

John H. Biggs Faculty Fellow, GlaxoSmithKline Faculty Fellow
Professor, Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
Associate Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program

Faculty Website

Research Interests: Economic Development, Economic Geography, Urban Development; Post-industrial Transformation,

Dr. Graves is an economic geographer specializing in studies of the post-industrial transformation of North Carolina. His work focuses on the role of finance in economic development as well as understanding the urban transformation associated with economic change. This work has been funded by the John H. Biggs Faculty Fellowship from UNC Charlotte and the GlaxoSmithKline Faculty Fellowship from the NC State University Institute for Emerging Issues.

Recent Publications:

• Kalafsky, R. V., & Graves, W. W. (2020). Global reach and second-tier cities: An initial exploration of export activity from the bottom of the US metropolitan hierarchy. Journal of Urban Affairs, 42(7), 1014-1027.
• Graves, W., & Alderman, D. H. (2021). Guest editors’ introduction: On the future geographies of the South. Southeastern Geographer, 61(4), 291-302.
• Kozar, J., & Graves, W. (2021). The mechanics of small metropolitan labor markets in the US South: does job growth always drive population growth?. In Ordinary Cities, Extraordinary Geographies (pp. 44-67). Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Vinson, C. W., & Graves, W. (2021). New Regionalism Reconsidered: Notes on Evolving Attitudes about Regional Identity, Interdependence, and Civic Leadership in the Central Carolinas. southeastern geographer, 61(1), 69-80.
• Bryson, J. R., Billing, C., Graves, W., & Yeung, G. (Eds.). (2022). A research agenda for manufacturing industries in the global economy.
• Graves, W., & Zhang, Y. (2022). The role of demographic data bias in the under-provision of retail: A quasi-experimental case study of low food access neighborhoods in twenty-five southern metros. Urban Affairs Review, 58(5), 1466-1485.
• Kalafsky, R. V., & Graves, W. (2022). The southern economy at the precipice of the post-global age: evaluating pandemic-era disruptions to the export sector. southeastern geographer, 62(4), 318-338.
• Graves, W., & Campbell Jr, H. S. (2022). Addressing the evolution of clustering strategies in manufacturing: A policy research agenda. A research agenda for manufacturing industries in the global economy, 113-134.
• Graves, W., McShane, C., & Kozar, J. (2023). Post-Pandemic Urban Form: Tentative Signs of Office Recentralization in Charlotte. southeastern geographer, 63(4), 321-339.
• Andres, L., Bryson, J. R., Graves, W., & Warf, B. (2023). Urban value chains and re-framing agglomeration-centric conceptions of urban theory. Urban Geography, 44(8), 1701-1722.
• James, R. D., Campbell Jr, H. S., & Graves, W. (2023). Bottom-Up Convergence? Explaining Uneven Income Growth in the New South. southeastern geographer, 63(3), 229-251.