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This paper constitutes an argument for the use of quasi-experimental control group methods as a measurement technique to study economic and spatial structural change. The essence of such methods is the careful identification of a control group-a set of places whose economic development enables measurement of what would have happened in the place under study without the phenomenon or policy being studied. The quasi-experimental approach can be used in economic geography for basic research and planning and policy studies, including measuring the effects of highway investment, airline service, plant closings, tourism activities, dam construction, development initiatives, energy booms, and growth poles. Examples of the last two applications are provided here to illustrate the use and potential of the method.
Isserman et al. (Thu,) studied this question.