Since the summer of 2009 Professor Bellinger and Jue (Jessie) Wang ('12), a Dickinson economics and mathematics major, have been engaged in a series of research projects related to the access to retail stores in inner city neighborhoods.  In 2009 they completed a detailed study of the South Allison Hill neighborhood in Harrisburg, PA.  This report has been used by the Tri-County Commission, which operates the Community Development Corporation in South Allison Hill, to recruit businesses and apply for grants.

The two have also been working with a national data set of about 40 relatively small U.S. cities to analyze the possible causes of inner city retail gaps on a broader scale.  They presented an article on that topic at the 2010 Pennsylvania Economic Association meetings and are working on 3 articles that will be submitted to various economic journals this spring.