Featuring Our Faculty

Area Consumer Behavior and Tourism

Research Interests

My research interests focus on the public policy dimensions of urban and regional economic development with the concentration on transportation systems. The transportation infrastructure is especially important for the development at the local level, including the progress of tourism industry. My studies have evolved around the concept that boundaries which we draw through institutions matter for the actual outcomes that we receive in the transportation infrastructure or other venues.

Community Outreach Interests

My interests lie in the area of evaluating transportation systems and their efficiency. I have worked on several program evaluation efforts. My focus is on the combination of geographically-integrated quantitative and qualitative methods. Also, I have experience conducting cost-benefit analyses for transit projects.

Notable Publications

• Smirnova, Olga and Gerald Ingalls. 2009. "Annexation, Incorporation and the Health of Central Cities in North and South Carolina," North Carolina Geographer, vol. 16
• Leland, Suzanne and Olga Smirnova, 2009. "Reassessing Privatization Strategies 25 Years Later: Revisiting Perry and Babitsky's Comparative Performance Study of Urban Bus Transit Services," Journal of Public Administration Review, September- October, pp. 855-867.
• Smirnova, Olga, Suzanne Leland, and Gary Johnson. 2008. "Popular, but More Influential? A Test of Whether Special Purpose Governments Impact Federal Transit Financing," Municipal Finance Journal, Vol. 28, No.4, pp. 43-61.
• Leland, Suzanne and Olga Smirnova. 2008. "Does Government Structure Matter? An Empirical Test of whether Special Purpose Governments are More Efficient in Administering Bus Rapid Transit than General Purpose Governments," Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 11, No.1, pp.63-83.
• Smirnova, Olga and Gerald Ingalls. 2007. "The Influence of State Annexation Laws on the Growth of Selected Southern Cities," Southeastern Geographer Journal. Vol. 47, No. 1. pp.71-85.

Courses

• PADM 6123 Economic Development: This course is designed to introduce you to a variety of methods and techniques commonly used in economic regional analysis.