I am interested in regional development from a complexity perspective, especially those those phenomena that result from increasing returns. I am particularly interested in the feedback effects of inter-regional domestic migration and the impacts on individual cities and systems of cities as a whole.

Given the natural fit between agent-based modeling and increasing returns, I am drawn to agent-based modeling and intend to work in the field of agent-based regional economics.

While I am passionate about modeling, I also find immense worth of bridging the gap between complexity theory and applied regional development. I am currently working on projects that span from theoretical to applied with researchers at Arizona State University, Indiana University, and George Mason University.

If you have any questions regarding my work or would like to work together, please feel free to email me at

kwaters2 at gmu dot edu