Influences of technology choice in the third world, particularly how the choice can improve people's lives. Management of technology transfer. Technology planning and management. Research has centered on colonial Latin America, particularly on race relations and urban history. History of food production, distribution, and diet.
Geographical specialization is southern Africa.
Research has centered on urban development in the early Tokugawa period. Research has been primarily on Brazil and Argentina. Also Cuba, labor, and labor history. World hunger problems, food systems, the domestic economy, transformation of traditional medical systems. Modern East Asia, with a particular focus on Taiwan, China, and Japan.