The most recent boom in fossil fuel extraction is noteworthy through its extensive use of advanced technologies called hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. The papers in this issue demonstrate the role that regional science can and should play in guiding policy, usefully complementing...

This paper offers insights into the role for regional science and regional scientists in analyzing shale-energy development. The stories described are drawn from popular press accounts of the Bakken Basin in North Dakota and the dry-gas-producing counties of the Marcellus Shale in Northern and...

This paper examines the economic experience of past energy booms and of current unconventional shale gas and oil development. It focuses on key economic characteristics of gas and oil development, such as its employment potential, the geography of such development, its boom-bust nature, and the...