Wednesday Talk: October 21, 2026, 10am-12pm – hybrid
October 21 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Speaker: Reuben Gaetani, Strategic Management, Rotman
Title: “Location and Innovation: Why Geography Still Matters”
Abstract: Innovation does not happen uniformly across space. Some places consistently produce ideas that open entirely new technological paths, while others specialize in the steady, incremental improvements that keep existing products competitive. The difference comes down to a particular kind of human interaction: unplanned, cross-disciplinary encounters between people who would not ordinarily seek each other out. These exchanges are hard to engineer and surprisingly difficult to replicate through deliberate coordination or digital tools. They depend on the daily conditions of dense, mixed-use environments where people from different backgrounds routinely cross paths. This talk examines why geography continues to shape the innovation process, what firms and cities can do to foster the conditions for genuinely novel ideas, and why the same innovative activity that drives economic growth can, if left unmanaged, also generate major challenges for the cities and communities that host it.
Bio: Ruben Gaetani is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Toronto Mississauga, cross-appointed to the Rotman School of Management. His research interests lie at the intersection of the economics of innovation, urban economics, and economic growth. His research focuses on how location shapes the kind of innovation firms produce, how knowledge and ideas travel across fields and organizations, and how innovative activity affects the communities that host it. His paper “The Geography of Unconventional Innovation” was awarded the 2021 Austin Robinson Memorial Prize from the Royal Economic Society. He is currently serving as the Director of the Master of Management of Innovation. He holds a PhD in Economics from Northwestern University.
The link to register is coming soon.
The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.
