Steven Bond-Smith

Economist, Associate Director, and Associate Professor
University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Saunders Hall, 2424 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States
bondsmit@hawaii.edu · ORCID 0000-0003-2500-1782

Steven Bond-Smith is the Associate Director and an Associate Professor at UHERO, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He is a co-editor of Spatial Economic Analysis and a Productivity Fellow at The Productivity Institute in the United Kingdom. His research advances theoretical, empirical, and policy insights in spatial economics, productivity, and regional development, with publications in the Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Regional Science, Cities, Urban Studies, and Economic Development Quarterly, among others.

Current Positions

2026–Present

Associate Director, UHERO, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

2026–Present

Associate Professor, with tenure, UHERO, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

2025–Present

Productivity Fellow, The Productivity Institute, United Kingdom.

2022–Present

Co-editor, Spatial Economic Analysis.

2021–Present

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin University, Australia.

2020–Present

Research Associate, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Australian National University.

Previous Positions

2021–2026

Assistant Professor, tenure track, UHERO, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

2016–2021

Research Fellow, then Senior Research Fellow, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and Department of Economics, Curtin University, Australia.

2014–2016

Economist, Australian Energy Market Commission.

2014–2014

Senior Research Officer, TransGrid (electricity transmission network business).

2012–2013

Visiting Researcher during doctoral study, London School of Economics and Australian National University.

2009–2012

Economist, Covec, Auckland.

2005–2009

Telecommunications Policy Analyst for the New Zealand Government, Regulatory Manager for a telecommunications service provider, and Consultant at Deloitte.

Education

2015

Ph.D. in Economics, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

2009

Master of Management Studies, Economics, 1st Class Honors, equivalent to summa cum laude, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

2006

Bachelor of Management Studies with Honors, Economics, 1st Class Honors, equivalent to summa cum laude, University of Waikato, New Zealand.

Selected Publications

Selected from 63 {} publications and reports. Full list in the complete CV.

1. Bonham, C.S., Gangnes, B., Bond-Smith, S., Fuleky, P., Gordner, T., Inafuku, R., Park, J.Y., Tyndall, J., Pepino, V., Prager, E., and Munoz, R. “War brings more stormy weather to Hawaiʻi,” UHERO Forecast for the State of Hawaiʻi, University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), May 15, 2026. uhero.hawaii.edu
2. Bond-Smith, S. and Schwartz, E. “Beyond the price of paradise: Is Hawaiʻi being left behind?,” UHERO Report, University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), Supported by the Hawaiʻi Business Roundtable, February 1, 2026. uhero.hawaii.edu
3. Bond-Smith, S. and Lee, Y. “Estimating a CPI-based regional price parity index for US cities,” Urban Studies, 2026. doi:10.1177/00420980261457721
4. Bond-Smith, S. and Schwartz, E. “Priced in or priced out, left behind or thriving: A price-income decomposition of US intercity migration,” Revisions requested at Cities.
5. Bond-Smith, S. and McCann, P. “Shadows and donuts: The work-from-home revolution and the performance of cities,” Journal of Regional Science, vol. 65, no. 5, pp. 1401-1422, 2025. doi:10.1111/jors.70008
6. Bond-Smith, S. and Ilamkar, S. “Potential opportunities to diversify the economy of Hawaiʻi,” UHERO Report, University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO), July 2, 2024. uhero.hawaii.edu
7. Bond-Smith, S. “Combining agglomeration economies and endogenous growth without scale effects,” Spatial Economic Analysis, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 287-308, 2024. doi:10.1080/17421772.2023.2280106
8. Bond-Smith, S. “Diversifying Hawaiʻi's specialized economy: A spatial economic perspective,” Economic Development Quarterly, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 40-59, 2024. doi:10.1177/08912424231183941
9. Bond-Smith, S. “The unintended consequences of increasing returns to scale in geographical economics,” Journal of Economic Geography, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 653-681, 2021. doi:10.1093/jeg/lbab023

Selected Grant Funding

Teaching and Service