Sébastien joined the faculty in the Department of Geography in the summer of 2006 after graduating from the Ph.D. program in Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to completing his Ph.D., he earned an M.A. in Economics from the Université Laval and a B.Soc.Sc. (Economics) from the Université de Moncton. He also worked as a research economist with the Conference Board of Canada’s Economic Forecasting and Analysis Division and as a research associate at the Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development (Université de Moncton).
CURRENT RESEARCH
As an economic geographer, Sébastien’s research is concerned mainly with the spatial dimensions of inequality and the interactions between the global economy and human resources across North American regions. His current research explores these interests through three projects.
The first seeks to describe recent spatial patterns of inequality in Canada and the United States. Specifically, his work examines how the distribution of income across various scales has changed over time and the characteristics associated with these changes. Disentangling the spatial and structural components of inequality is an essential task in order to understand the role played by locational differences as potential causes of inequality.
The existence of clear spatial variations in inequality leads to a second research focus which is to try to explain why these occur. While alternative explanations are offered (from differences in the demographic and occupational composition of labour markets to institutional factors and technological change), Sébastien’s expertise lies in studying the relationship between international trade and inequality. His work in this area, funded by SSHRC and Statistics Canada, is based on the development of a new employer-employee dataset that combines information on individual worker characteristics from the 20% sample of the Census of Population with synthetic establishments from the Annual Survey of Manufactures. This unique and very detailed dataset allows one to measure, among other things, how import competition from low-income countries affects the wages of less-skilled workers relative to those of highly-skilled workers across manufacturing industries and regions. The findings from this research are crucial in order to improve the theoretical basis of some well-known models in international economics and economic geography.
A third and related research project explores some of the broader relationships linking international exports and foreign ownership to the productivity of plants, the wages of workers in the manufacturing sector and regional economic development. The use of plant-level data from unpublished sources along with micro-econometric modeling techniques is again central to the investigation of these relationships.
The above word cloud (generated using Wordle) is based on a forthcoming article published in Urban Studies.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Bolton, K.C. and S. Breau (2011) Growing unequal? Changes in the distribution of earnings across Canadian cities. Urban Studies. doi:10.1177/0042098011410335. [Abstract]
Breau, S. and W. M. Brown (2011) Exporting, foreign direct investment and wages: Evidence from the Canadian manufacturing sector. Growth and Change. 42(3): 261-286. [Abstract]
Breau, S. (2010) Low-income-country import competition and the structure of earnings inequality in Canada, 1996-2001. Environment and Planning A. 42(8): 1964-1986. [Abstract]
Berrang-Ford, L., J. Lundine and S. Breau (2010) Conflict and human African trypanosomiasis. Social Science & Medicine. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed. [Abstract]
Breau, S., and D. Rigby (2009) International trade and wage inequality in Canada, Journal of Economic Geography. doi:10.1093/jeg/lbp016. [Abstract]
Breau, S. (2009) Exports and local labor markets in the greater Los Angeles region. Urban Geography. 30(1): 40-62. [Abstract]
Rigby, D., and S. Breau (2008) Impacts of trade on wage inequality in Los Angeles: Analysis using matched employer-employee data. Annals of the Assocation of American Geographers. 98(4): 920-940. [Abstract]
Breau, S., and D. Rigby (2008) Participation in export markets and plant productivity in Los Angeles, 1987-1997. Economic Geography. 84(1): 27-50. [Abstract]
Breau, S. (2007) Inequality across Canadian provinces in an era of globalization: Explaining recent trends. The Canadian Geographer. 51(1): 72-90. [Abstract]
Breau, S., and D. Rigby. (2006) Is there really an export wage premium? A case study of Los Angeles using matched employee-employer data. International Regional Science Review. 29(3): 297-310. [Abstract]
Shin, M., J. Agnew, S. Breau, and P. Richardson. (2006) Locating economic growth: Place and the geography of Italian export performance. European Urban and Regional Studies. 13(3): 195-208. [Abstract]
TEACHING
GEOG-216: Geography of the World Economy This course introduces students to the geography of the world economic system. It describes the spatial distribution of economic activities and examines the factors which influence their changing location. Case studies from both "developed" and "developing" countries help illustrate the different geographical theories presented in lectures.
AGEC-200: Principles of Microeconomics This course deals with the field of economics as it relates to the activities of individual consumers, firms and organizations. Emphasis is placed on basic microeconomic theories and principles pertaining to the market system and current economic issues. Special reference is made to international trade and the economics of environmental regulation.
GEOG-311: Economic Geography This course examines different theories and approaches to understanding the spatial organization of economic activities. Regional case studies drawn from North America, Europe and Asia are used to reinforce the theoretical concepts discussed in the course. Special attention is also given to city-regions and their interaction with the global economy.
GEOG-351: Quantitative Methods This course is designed to provide students with a solid understanding of key statistical methods used by geographers. After reviewing basic statistical methods, emphasis is placed on regression analysis, its underlying assumptions and problems associated with violations of these assumptions. The course also explores alternative forms of multivariate analyses and introduces students to methods of exploratory spatial data analysis and spatial regression models.
GEOG-504: Industrial Restructuring The objective of this seminar course is to develop an understanding of the geographical consequences of a variety of new forms of economic and social organization that are emerging in the North American and Western European settings. Key themes: technological and managerial change, changing labour processes, industrial re-location.
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