Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications

Lowe, Nichola, Greg Schrock, Matt Wilson, Rumana Rabbani and Allison Forbes. Centering Work: Integration and Diffusion of Workforce Development within the US. Manufacturing Extension Network. Forthcoming. Economic Development Quarterly. [request]

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). Biophilic Institutions: Building New Solidarities between the Economy and Nature. Forthcoming. Daedalus (MIT).

Lowe, Nichola. A Tool for Workplace Development: How Non-Degree Credentials Can Help Raise Job Quality Standards. Forthcoming. Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

Lowe, Nichola. 2021. Putting Skill to Work: How to Create Good Jobs in Uncertain Times. MIT Press.

Lowe, Nichola, Greg Schrock, Ranita Jain and Maureen Conway. 2021. Genesis at Work: Advancing Inclusive Innovation through Manufacturing Extension. Local Economy. [request]

Schrock, Greg and Nichola Lowe. 2021. The Promise of Inclusive Innovation. Local Economy. 36(3): 181-186 [request]

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2021. Turning Rules into Resources: Worker Enactment of Labor Standards and Why it Matters for Regulatory Enforcement. Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

Lowe, Nichola and Tara Vinodrai. 2020. The Maker-Manufacturing Nexus as a Place-Connecting Strategy: Implications for Regions ‘Left-Behind.’ Economic Geography.[request]

Donegan, Mary and Nichola Lowe. 2020. Going Local: Placing Entrepreneurial Microgeographies within a Larger Regional Context. Industry and Innovation.

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2020. Climate Change and Work: Politics and Power. Annual Review of Political Science. 23(2): 111-131. [request]

Donegan, Mary, T. William Lester and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2019. Striking a Balance: A National Assessment of Economic Development Incentives. Urban Affairs Review [request]

Clayton, Paige, Mary Donegan, Maryann Feldman, Allison Forbes, Nichola Lowe, Alyse Polly (alphabetical). 2019. Founders’ Prior Work Experiences and the Outcomes of their Entrepreneurial Firms. Industrial and Labor Relations Review.

Donegan, Mary, Paige Clayton, Maryann Feldman, Allison Forbes, Nichola Lowe, Alyse Polly. 2019. The Tortoise, the Hare and the Hybrid: The Labor Market Effects of Entrepreneurial Apprenticeships. Industry and Corporate Change.

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe. 2018. Policy and Collective Action in Place. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. 11(2): 335-351.

Lowe, Nichola and Maryann Feldman. 2018. Breaking the Waves: Innovating at the Intersections of Local Economic Development Planning. Economic Development Quarterly. [request]

Clayton, Paige, Maryann Feldman and Nichola Lowe. 2018. Behind the Scenes: Intermediary structures that facilitate science commercialization. Academy of Management Review. 32(1).

Lowe, Nichola and Laura Wolf-Powers (alphabetical). 2018. Who Works in a Working Region? Inclusive Innovation in the New Manufacturing Economy. Regional Studies. 52(6): 828-839 [request]

Lowe, Nichola and Maryann Feldman. 2017. Institutional Life Within an Entrepreneurial Region. Geography Compass. 11(3) [request]

Lowe, Nichola and Natasha Iskander. 2017. Power Through Problem Solving: Latino Immigrants and the Inconsistencies of Economic Restructuring. Population, Space and Place. 23(7) [request]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2017. Evidence Based Economic Development Policy. Innovations Journal (MIT). 11(3/4):1-18.

Lowe, Nichola. 2015. Reskilling Urban Manufacturing: Workforce Solutions from the Inside Out. Metropolitics. [request]

Lowe, Nichola and Allan Freyer. 2015. A Moving Target: Rethinking Industrial Recruitment in an Era of Growing Economic Uncertainty. Environment and Planning C. 33(5): 1284-1300. [request]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2015. Triangulating Regional Economies: The Promise of Digital Data. Research Policy. 44(9): 1785-1793 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola. 2014. Beyond the Deal: Using Industrial Recruitment as a Strategic Tool for Manufacturing Development. Economic Development Quarterly. 28(4): 287-299. [request article]

Lester, T. William, Nichola Lowe and Allan Freyer. 2014. Mediating Incentive Use: A Time-Series Assessment of Economic Development Deals in North Carolina. Economic Development Quarterly. 28(2): 132-146. [request article]

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2013. Building Job Quality from the Inside-Out: Mexican Immigrants, Skills, and Jobs in the Construction Industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 66(4). [request article]

Iskander, Natasha, Christine Riordan and Nichola Lowe. 2013. Learning in Place: Mexican Immigrants in the Philadelphia Construction Industry. Economic Geography. 89(1): 53–75. [request article]

Goldstein, Harvey, Nichola Lowe and Mary Donegan. 2012. Transitioning to the New Economy: Individual, Institutional, and Regional Factors in Explaining Outcomes of Retraining Programs. Regional Studies. 46(1): 105-118. [request article]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2011. Restructuring for Resilience: The Importance of Organizational Design. Innovations Journal (MIT). 6(1): 129-146 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola, Harvey Goldstein and Mary Donegan. 2011. Patchwork Intermediation: Regional Challenges and Opportunities for Sector-Based Workforce Development. Economic Development Quarterly. 25(2): 158-171 [request article]

Hagan, Jacqueline, Nichola Lowe and Christian Quingla. 2011. Skills on the Move: Rethinking the Relationship between Human Capital and Economic Mobility. Work and Occupations. 38 (2): 149-178 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola. 2010. Responding to Diversity: Workforce Intermediation in a Transitioning Regional Economy. Environment and Planning C. 48(4): 696-713 [request article]

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2010. Hidden Talent: Tacit Skill Formation and Labor Market Incorporation of Mexican Immigrant Workers in the United States. Journal of Planning Education and Research. 30(2): 132-146. [request article]

Lowe, Nichola, Jacqueline Hagan and Natasha Iskander. 2010. Revealing Talent: Informal Skills Intermediation as an Emergent Pathway for Immigrant Labor Market Incorporation. Environment and Planning A. 42(1): 205-222 [request article]

Iskander, Natasha, Nichola Lowe and Christine Riordan. 2010. The Rise and Fall of a Micro Learning Region: Mexican Immigrants and Construction in Center-South Philadelphia. Environment and Planning A. 42(7): 1595-1612 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola and Meric Gertler. 2009. Building on Diversity: Institutional Foundations of Hybrid Strategies in Toronto’s Life Sciences. Regional Studies. 43(4): 589-603 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola. 2009. Challenging Tradition: Unlocking New Paths to Regional Industrial Upgrading. Environment and Planning A. 41(1): 128-145 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola and Brian Morton. 2008. Developing Standards: The Role of the Community Benefits Agreements in Enhancing Job Quality. Community Development Journal. 39(2): 23-35 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola and Maryann Feldman. 2008. Constructing Entrepreneurial Advantage: Consensus-building, Technological Uncertainty and Emerging Industries. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. 1(2): 265–284 [request article]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe. 2008. Consensus from Controversy: Cambridge’s Biosafety Ordinance and the Anchoring of the Biotech Industry. European Planning Studies. 16(3): 395-410 [request article]

Donegan, Mary and Nichola Lowe. 2008. Inequality in the Creative City: Is There Still a Place for “Old-Fashioned” Institutions? Economic Development Quarterly. 22(1): 46-62 [request article]

Donegan, Mary, Joshua Drucker, Harvey Goldstein, Nichola Lowe and Emil Malizia (alphabetical). 2008. Which Indicators Explain Metropolitan Economic Performance Best: Traditional or Creative Class? Journal of the American Planning Association. 74(2): 180-195 (Translated into Chinese.) [request article]

Lowe, Nichola. 2007. Job Creation and the Knowledge Economy: Lessons from North Carolina’s Life Science Manufacturing Initiative. Economic Development Quarterly. 21(4): 339-353 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola. 2003. Overcoming the Challenges of Cooperation: The Case of Joint Upgrading in Guadalajara’s Apparel Making Industry. Washington D.C.: Sustainable Development Department, Inter-American Development Bank. (Refereed Series). Pp: 1-38 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola and Martin Kenney. 1999. Foreign Investment and the Global Geography of Production: Why the Mexican Consumer Electronics Industry Failed. World Development. 27(8): 1427-1443 [request article]

Lowe, Nichola and Martin Kenney. 1998. To Create an Industry: The Growth of Consumer Electronics Manufacturing in Mexico and Taiwan. Science, Technology and Society. 3(1): 49-73
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Book Chapters

Lowe, Nichola. Workforce Training in an Age of AI. Joshua Cohen and Deborah Chasman (eds.). Redesigning AI: Work, Democracy and Justice in the Age of Automation. Boston Review Forum (book).

Lowe, Nichola and Tara Vinodrai. Forthcoming. Reimagining Work? Covid-19 and the Impacts on Employment in Canada and the United States. John Bryson, Lauren Andres, Aksel Ersoy and Louise Reardon (eds.). Living with Pandemics: People, Place and Policy. Edward

Elgar Publishing.Lowe, Nichola, Julianne Stern, John Bryson and Rachel Mulhall. 2018. Youth Job Creation and Employer Engagement in Urban Manufacturing. Stuart Andreason, Carl Van Horn, Heath Prince, and Todd Greene (eds.). Investing in America’s Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers. U.S. Federal Reserve System. [request]

Bryson, John, Rachel Mulhall, Nichola Lowe and Julianne Stern. 2018. Engineering and the Skills Crisis in the UK and US: A comparative analysis of employer-engaged education. Yufeng Zhang and Mike Gregory (eds.). Value Creation through Engineering Excellence: Building Global Network Capabilities. Palgrave: London.

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2018. Immigration and the Politics of Skill. Gordon L. Clark, Maryann Feldman, Meric Gertler and Dariusz Wójcik (eds). The New Oxford Handbook on Economic Geography, Oxford University Press. [request]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe. 2018. How Do Ideas Get Into the Air? Governance and the Construction of Place-specific Innovative Advantage. Bathelt, Harald, Patrick Cohendet, Sebastian Henn and Laurent Simon (eds). The Elgar Companion to Innovation and Knowledge Creation, Edward Elgar: Northampton (MA).

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe. 2016. The Transformers: Immigration and Tacit Knowledge Development. K Elsbach and B. Bechky (eds). Qualitative Organizational Research – Volume 3 Best Papers from the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research. Charlotte NC: Information Age Publishing. Forthcoming. [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2015. From Skills Mismatch to Reinterpretation: Challenges and Solutions for Manufacturing Worker Retention and Recruitment. J. Bryson, J. Clark, and V. Vanchan (eds) Handbook of Manufacturing Industries in the World Economy. Edward Elgar. [request]

Iskander, Natasha and Lowe, Nichola (alphabetical). 2013. Moving Skill: The Incorporation of Mexican Immigrants in the U.S. and Mexican Construction Industries. Y. Kuznetsov (ed) How Talent Abroad Supports Growth, Innovation and Institutional Development at Home. Washington D.C.: The Migration Policy Institute.

Lowe, Nichola. 2011. Southern Industrialization Revisited: Industrial Recruitment as a Strategic Tool for Local Economic Development. D. Gitterman and P. Coclanis (eds) A Way Forward: Building a Globally Competitive South. E-book distributed by the University of North Carolina Press. [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2007. Prioridades para El Mejoramiento de las Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas. Berry and D. Borda (ed) Economía y Empleo en el Paraguay. Asunción: CADEP. English translation: Nichola Lowe. 2010: Patterns of Productivity Enhancement in Small  and Medium Enterprises. A. Berry (ed) Losing Ground on the Employment Challenge: The Case of Paraguay. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Pp. 143-162 [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2006. Acquiring the Skills to Better Manage Local Economic Development: The case of Jalisco, Mexico. C. S. Galbraith and C. H. Stiles (eds) Developmental Entrepreneurship: Adversity, Risk, and Isolation. London: Elsevier Sciences. Pp. 325-354 [request]

Lowe, Nichola and Meric Gertler. 2005. Diversity and the Evolution of a Life Science Innovation System: The Toronto Region in Comparative Perspective. D.A. Wolfe and M. Lucas (eds) Global Networks and Local Linkages: The Paradox of Clusters in an Open Economy. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Pp. 25-55 [request]
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Editorials, Magazine Articles, Podcast Episodes

Lowe, Nichola. 2021. Reimagining Skill. Metropolitics. October 18.

Lowe, Nichola with David Goldstein. 2021. Redefining Skill. Pitchfork Economics Podcast Episode. October 1.

Lowe. Nichola. 2021. The Overlooked Partners that Can Build Your Talent Pipeline. MIT Sloan Management Review. On-line March 29th, plus Summer print edition.  

Khanal, Kshitiz and Nichola Lowe. 2021. What Job Openings Tell Us About Pandemic Employment and Economic Recovery. Carolina Tracker.

Lowe, Nichola. 2020. CURS Pandemic Viewpoints Podcast Series. Covid-19 and Manufacturing.

Lowe, Nichola and Tara Vinodrai. 2020.  Reflections on Retooling for the Covid‑19 Pandemic. Metropolitics. June 19.

Lowe, Nichola, T. William Lester and Mary Donegan. 2018. Does doling out economic incentives create jobs? A UNC study says no. News and Observer. December 26.

Lowe, Nichola and Maryann Feldman. 2018. Common Ground: How to pursue a mixed strategy for economic development and come out ahead. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.

Lowe, Nichola, Colleen Durfee and Tara Vinodrai. 2018. Threading Together Carolina’s Textile Comeback. Angles Blog (Carolina Planning Journal).

Forbes, Allison and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2018. North Carolina Can Build a Better Place for Auto Makers. News and Observer. January 17. http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article194987324.html

Stern, Julianne and Nichola Lowe. 2018. Supporting Low-Income Youth through Jobs in Urban Manufacturing. Carolina Planning Journal.

Lowe, Nichola. 2017. Lessons from the American Underground. Planning. Magazine for the American Planning Association. December issue. [request

Lowe, Nichola. 2017. How Helping Businesses and Workers Engage in Shared Skill Development Can Reduce Inequality and Strengthen the U.S. Economy. Scholars Strategy Network-Faculty Brief. http://www.scholarsstrategynetwork.org/brief/how-helping-businesses-and-workers-engage-shared-skill-development-can-reduce-inequality-and

Lowe, Nichola. 2016. To Thwart HB2 Provision, NC Governments Could Insource Services. News and Observer. May 11. http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article76823997.html

Lowe, Nichola. 2015. Encouraging Employers to Train Workers (Future of Work series). Pacific Standard Magazine. https://psmag.com/the-future-of-work-encouraging-employers-to-train-workers-84cd175c2173#.xqqc0t8kj

Lester, T. William and Nichola Lowe. 2015. Rebuilding the Bridge to the Future: An Analysis of What Works for North Carolina’s Economy. ThinkNCFirst. [request] http://www.thinkncfirst.org/research/rebuilding-the-bridge-to-the-future-an-analysis-of-what-works-for-north-carolinas-economy

Lowe, Nichola, Meenu Tewari and T. William Lester. 2015. Planning for Inclusive Prosperity: Lessons from the North Carolina Experience. Carolina Planning Journal. 40: 5-12. [request]

Wolf-Powers, Laura and Nichola Lowe. 2015. Sharing the Biopharmaceutical Wealth: Growth and Equity Benefits of a “Working Regions” Approach. Regions Magazine. 297(1):14-16. [request]

Lowe, Nichola 2015. Incentives Need to be Used Efficiently. News and Observer. March 5 http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article12709835.html

Lowe, Nichola and Maryann Feldman. 2015. Stoking our Entrepreneurial Economy. News and Observer. February 2. http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article10264808.html

Lowe, Nichola. 2014. Forum: How Finance Gutted Manufacturing. Boston Review. http://bostonreview.net/forum/how-finance-gutted-manufacturing/nichola-lowe-response-finance-and-manufacturing

Clavel, Pierre and Nichola Lowe. 2013. Progressive Planning in the American South. Progressive Planning Magazine. Spring. [request]

Turner, Clara and Nichola Lowe. 2013. Please Inquire Within: Local Hiring in Durham, North Carolina. Progressive Planning Magazine. Spring. [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2013. What is the Skills Problem in Manufacturing? Progressive Planning Magazine. Winter. [request]

Lester, T. William, Nichola Lowe and Allan Freyer. 2012. Mediated Incentives: Making North Carolina’s Economic Development Incentive Programs Work Better through Strategic Investments. North Carolina Budget and Tax Center. [request]

Lester, T. William and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2012. Business Incentives, OK, but Smarter Ones for. North Carolina. News and Observer. December 29. http://planning.unc.edu/busincentives

Iskander, Natasha and Nichola Lowe (alphabetical). 2012 The Politics of Skill. Perspectives. Washington D.C.: Immigration Policy Center. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/politics-skill-rethinking-value-low-skilled-immigrant-workers

Lowe, Nichola and Natasha Iskander. 2011. Beyond the Wal-Martization of Immigration. Guest blog entry. UNC-Institute for the Study of the Americas. [request]

Feldman, Maryann and Nichola Lowe. 2010. RTP’s Broader Reach. News and Observer. October (2). [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2010. A Break for Local Workers. News and Observer. February (5). [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2007. Don’t Write Off Incentives Yet. News and Observer. April (10). http://www.ncgrowth.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/News-Observer-Dont-Write-Off-Incentives-Yet.pdf

Lowe, Nichola. 2007. Life Science Manufacturing in North Carolina: A Case Study for Workforce Development. Carolina Context. June. [request]

Lowe, Nichola. 2006. In Seeking the Creative Class: Basics Still Matter. SouthNow. July (9). [request]