Applications for the Rice MBA are open. Round 1 deadline: October 16.

Data center location decisions focus on cost and proximity, not job centers, study shows

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School Updates
School Updates

A new study co-authored by Rice Business’ Tommy Pan Fang provides the first large-scale statistical analysis of data center location strategies across the United States. It offers policymakers and firms a clearer starting point for understanding how different types of data centers get located in response to economic and strategic incentives.

Avery Ruxer Franklin

Some facilities cluster in cities for speed and access, while others move to rural regions in search of scale and lower costs

Recent electricity outages and the surge in artificial intelligence-driven computing have made data center siting decisions more consequential than ever, especially as energy and water constraints tighten. Communities invest public dollars on the promise of jobs and growth, while firms weigh long-term commitments to land, power and connectivity.

Against that backdrop, a critical question comes into focus: Where do data centers get built, and what actually drives those decisions?

A new study by Rice Business’ Tommy Pan Fang and Harvard Business’ Shane Greenstein provides the first large-scale statistical analysis of data center location strategies across the United States. It offers policymakers and firms a clearer starting point for understanding how different types of data centers get located in response to economic and strategic incentives.

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Published online in the journal Strategy Science, the study examines two major types of infrastructure: third-party co-location centers that lease server space to multiple firms and hyperscale cloud centers owned by providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

Two models, two location strategies

The study draws on prepandemic data from 2018 and 2019, a period of relative geographic stability in supply and demand. This window gives researchers a clean baseline before remote work, AI demand and new infrastructure pressures began reshaping internet traffic patterns.

The findings show that data centers follow a bifurcated geography. Third-party centers cluster in dense urban markets, where buyers prioritize proximity to customers despite higher land and operating costs. Cloud providers, by contrast, concentrate massive sites in a small number of lower-density regions, where electricity, land and construction are cheaper and economies of scale are easier to achieve.

Third-party data centers, in other words, follow demand. They locate in urban markets where firms in finance, health care and information technology value low latency, secure storage and compliance with regulatory standards.

Using county-level data, the researchers modeled how population density, industry mix and operating costs predict where new centers enter. Every U.S. metro area with more than 700,000 residents had at least one third-party provider, while many smaller, midsized cities had none.

This pattern challenges common assumptions. Third-party facilities are more distributed across urban America than prevailing narratives suggest.

Customer proximity matters because some sectors cannot absorb delay. In critical operations, even slight pauses can have real consequences. For hospital systems, lag can affect performance and risk exposure. And in high-frequency trading, milliseconds can determine whether value is captured or lost in a transaction.

“For industries where speed is everything, being too far from the physical infrastructure can meaningfully affect performance and risk,” said Pan Fang, an assistant professor of strategic management. “Proximity isn’t optional for sectors that can’t absorb delay.”

The economics of distance

For cloud providers, the picture looks very different. Their decisions follow a logic shaped primarily by cost and scale. Because cloud services can be delivered from afar, firms tend to build enormous sites in low-density regions where power is cheap and land is abundant.

These facilities can draw hundreds of megawatts of electricity and operate with far fewer employees than urban centers. “The cloud can serve almost anywhere,” Pan Fang said, “so location is a question of cost before geography.”

The study finds that cloud infrastructure clusters around network backbones and energy economics, not talent pools. Well-known hubs like in Ashburn, Virginia — often called “Data Center Alley” — reflect this logic, having benefited from early network infrastructure that made them natural convergence points for digital traffic.

Local governments often try to lure data centers with tax incentives, betting they will create high-tech jobs. But the study suggests other factors matter more to cloud providers, including construction costs, network connectivity and access to reliable, affordable electricity.

When cloud centers need a local presence, distance can sometimes become a constraint. Providers often address this by working alongside third-party operators. “Third-party centers can complement cloud firms when they need a foothold closer to customers,” Pan Fang said.

That hybrid pattern — massive regional hubs complementing strategic colocation — may define the next phase of data center growth.

Looking ahead, shifts in remote work, climate resilience, energy prices and AI-driven computing may reshape where new facilities go. Some workloads may move closer to users, while others may consolidate into large rural hubs. Emerging data-sovereignty rules could also redirect investment beyond the U.S.

“The cloud feels weightless,” Pan Fang said, “but it rests on real choices about land, power and proximity.”

This article originally appeared in Rice Business Wisdom and was lightly edited for Rice News.

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School Updates

Rice Business has grown dramatically over the past decade, and that momentum now has a new home in Asha and Farid Virani Hall, a 112,000-square-foot building which now stands alongside McNair Hall, offering students a combined 300,000 square-feet designed to support the school’s expanding community of graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, researchers and alumni.

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Teaching Finance in the Age of AI

A Q&A with Professor Kerry Back, who received the 2025 Financial Management Association’s Innovation in Teaching Award for building an MBA course that applies AI to finance education.
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A Q&A with Professor Kerry Back, who received the 2025 Financial Management Association’s Innovation in Teaching Award for building an MBA course that applies AI to finance education.

Professor Kerry Back standing in an office with his arms crossed.
Professor Kerry Back standing in an office with his arms crossed.
In November 2025, Professor Kerry Back received the Financial Management Association’s Innovation in Teaching Award for building an MBA course that applies AI to finance education.
We sat down with him to talk about how AI is changing finance — and the way we teach it.

 


A lot of people are feeling anxious about AI. You’ve written about how this isn’t the first time education has gone through a shift like this. How do you think about that history as you’re teaching in the finance classroom?

It’s worth remembering that every major technology has created classroom anxiety. When calculators came out, people worried students would never learn math. When Excel showed up, there was panic about students losing the ability to compute by hand. Socrates famously worried that writing would “produce forgetfulness” and create “the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom.”

Generative AI fits into a very old pattern. The tools change, but the core concepts don’t. Students still need to understand finance. They still need to interpret results, question assumptions and think critically. 

What changes is how much time we spend on the mechanics. We don’t teach square roots by hand anymore, and that didn’t hurt anybody’s understanding of math. AI is simply another step in that direction.

You started trying AI tools with students early on. Where did that interest begin?

Honestly, it started with realizing how much we were still forcing into Excel because it was the tool we had. Spreadsheets are perfect for pro formas and discounted cash flows, but they’ve never been great for a lot of the other analyses people in industry now handle with more powerful tools.

Once the AI models became good enough to write and run code, the barrier disappeared for students who don’t know how to program. Suddenly, students could use the same kinds of tools professionals rely on without being programmers. That’s what pulled me in. 

As the tools have improved, my teaching has shifted naturally from showing students what AI can accomplish to having them build with it: apps, workflows, automations, etc.

What does AI-enabled teaching look like when you’re in front of students?

The biggest shift is that we treat AI as the interface. Instead of opening Excel or searching through menus, students “chat” with the model. They tell it to pull data, sort stocks or run regressions — and the model writes the code and executes it.

I’ve even built what are essentially “skills” for the model — prompts that tell it exactly how to perform certain finance tasks — so students can say, “Use your skill,” and it knows what to do. 

The goal isn’t to turn students into coders. Instead, they’re designing workflows, checking results and iterating with the model until the analysis is correct.

When students first work with these tools, what jumps out at them?

The first thing that hits them is just how much AI can do. Most of our students have never programmed, so watching the model generate code feels almost unreal. But then they hit the other side. They’ll ask the model to do something, and it gives an answer that doesn't make sense.

My classes help them shift their mindset. You have to chat with the tool like a colleague until you get the result you want. Once they get past that, it gets exciting. Things they once struggled to build in spreadsheets can be automated with a simple prompt. I had a student say, “I’ve never programmed before, and now I can build apps.” Moments like that tell you it’s working.

How closely does that classroom work track with what finance firms are doing right now?

Pretty closely. Firms are trying to automate the exact same things students practice — the repetitive analyses and formatting that eat up so much time for junior analysts. 

What firms really need are people who understand finance and can also work with AI to build simple, customized tools. In some ways, the classroom is actually ahead of the curve, because students can experiment without the constraints firms face in production.

Interview by Scott Pett


 

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Why AI Boosts Creativity for Some Employees but Not Others

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New research co-authored by Jing Zhou finds that generative AI can enhance employee creativity—but mainly for those with strong metacognition. Employees who actively plan, monitor and refine their thinking benefit most from AI, highlighting the need to pair AI tools with training that develops these skills.

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Most Disruptive Business School Startups Of 2025

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Poets&Quants highlights 2025’s most disruptive undergraduate startups, showcasing student founders applying business education to launch ventures across tech, health, education and consumer markets.

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5 Reasons These Executives Chose the Rice MBA

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Houston is where top industries like energy, tech and healthcare go hand-in-hand with a top-ranked Executive MBA. This is why our EMBAs chose Rice Business. 

Steve Summers, Manager of MBA Recruiting, Working Professional Programs

Houston has a lot: the world’s largest healthcare center, global energy connections, growing tech and innovation spheres, and more. It’s also home to one of the nation’s top-ranked Executive MBA programs. 

If you’re an experienced professional looking to make a greater impact with an Executive MBA, Rice may be just the place for you. Get to know a few of our Executive MBA students from the Class of 2027 as they share what brought them to Rice. 

From industry access and program reputation to strong curriculum and global learning, here are the top five reasons they chose Rice Business.

Why Rice for Your EMBA?

Leadership Development

The Rice Executive MBA is designed for leaders who want to grow not only in capability, but in character — giving them the tools and support to lead with integrity.

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Brent Smith, senior associate dean for Executive Education and associate professor.

“Rice’s Executive MBA stood out because of its strong reputation for cultivating principled, data-driven leaders who balance analytical rigor with leadership — values that resonate with my own,” says Cherrice Browne.

“Rice is committed to developing leaders who make a tangible impact not just within their organizations, but within their communities.”

On-Campus Experience

Rice Business also stands apart for its immersive learning and community-building opportunities — giving students the chance to build meaningful relationships with peers, professors and alumni in person.

“I chose Rice Business because it offered a dedicated, on-campus experience that other programs — often relying on remote or satellite locations — couldn’t match,” says Ramy Kamal. “For me, the value of an MBA lies in the immersive environment and the ability to build deep, face-to-face connections.”

Interested in Rice Business?

 

Strong Academics

With a rigorous curriculum and a reputation for academic excellence, Rice Business attracts professionals ready to sharpen their leadership and strategic perspective through leadership forums, executive coaching and more than 100 elective options.

“I chose Rice Business for its stellar academic reputation and strong network in Houston. In my career as a CPA/controller, I want to go further in financial leadership, and I felt Rice was the best place to hone my leadership skills, strategic thinking and executive presence,” says Natalie Hinkley.

Hear why current student Anu Desai chose Rice:

Healthcare Access

“I chose Rice Business for the opportunity to engage with the ecosystem of the largest medical center in the world,” says James Morrison Jr., DMD.

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The Texas Medical Center neighbors Rice University in the heart of Houston.

The Texas Medical Center is one of the largest in the world, and it’s just minutes from the Rice campus. Our STEM-certified curriculum and exposure to the medical field give MBA students unmatched networking, learning and growing opportunities.

Personal Growth

“I moved to the U.S. in 2022 after building a successful consulting career in Russia,” shares Peter Korolev. 

“After two years of living and working here, I realized that I could still benefit from some structured support, like upgrading some skills, strengthening my communication and building my local network. The Rice EMBA program appeared to be the best option to help me!” 

For students navigating career transitions or new professional landscapes, Rice Business offers the structure, support and community needed to grow with confidence and intention.



For many of the Executive MBA students in the Class of 2027, the decision to attend Rice was about much more than just pursuing a degree. It was a conscious choice to join a tight-knit community that prioritizes personal growth, uplifting one another and making impacts in Houston and beyond.

Continue reading about our Executive MBA program and where it can take you. 
 

Explore the Executive MBA
 

Featured Students

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Cherrice Browne ’27
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Ramy Kamal ’27
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Natalie Hinkley ’27
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James Morrison Jr. ’27
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Peter Korolev ’27

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As AI continues to evolve, more MBA programs are finding ways to bring artificial intelligence into the classroom. See how AI electives, faculty research and classroom tools can prepare you for today’s business world.

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Wondering how to pivot into consulting without a business background? Discover how the top-ranked Rice MBA curriculum, Career Development Office, and hands-on learning opportunities will empower you to make a successful career transition.
 

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Rice Executive MBA Class of 2027
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How To Prep for the MBA Interview and Essays

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Admissions

Ready to prepare for your Rice MBA interview and essays? It’s time to practice, review and research so you can tell your best story and get into a top MBA program.

Helen Huneycutt

Preparing to apply for the Rice MBA can feel both exciting and overwhelming. The interview and essays are your opportunity to tell your story beyond test scores and resumes — sharing where you’re headed, what your goals are and why an MBA is the right next step. 

Whether you’re applying to a full-time MBA program or a part-time program as a working professional, it’s important to dedicate time to practicing, refining and submitting your best application.

Here are some practical tips you can use to master the MBA interview and essays.

Top MBA Interview Tips

The MBA interview is your chance to put context around your application and share your story in your own words, face-to-face. Thoughtful preparation can help you approach the conversation with confidence and make a good first impression.

Approach the Interview With an Open Mindset

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Practice for your interview beforehand, but keep the conversation authentic.

MBA interviews are meant to be open conversations, not interrogations. Our admissions team wants to understand your motivations, experiences and aspirations — so go in prepared, listen closely and respond thoughtfully.

Come Prepared

Be ready to discuss your background, career path and long-term goals clearly and concisely. Before the interview, reflect on why you’re pursuing an MBA now and how Rice Business fits into your professional journey. It’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with your program of interest.

Bring Thoughtful Questions

Strong interviews are two-way conversations. Asking informed questions shows genuine interest and curiosity, while also helping you evaluate if the program is the right fit. Consider asking about the student experience, career support or opportunities to apply learning beyond the classroom.

Dress Professionally

Whether your interview is virtual or in person, professional attire makes a positive first impression. Dressing polished and prepared signals that you take the opportunity seriously and respect the process.

Practice, but Stay Authentic

Practicing common MBA interview questions can help you feel more comfortable, but avoid memorizing rigid, scripted responses. The strongest interviews balance preparation with authenticity — aim to speak clearly and confidently, but let your personality come through.

Interested in Rice Business?

 

How To Approach MBA Essays

In addition to your interview with a Rice Business recruiter, MBA essays offer space to reflect on your goals, experiences and motivations. Strong essays are clear, focused and grounded in genuine self-reflection.

Start Early

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Begin drafting early and read your essay aloud to refine your writing.

Like all of your best writing, your MBA essay will benefit greatly from reflection. Start early to give yourself time to think about your experiences, values and goals — as well as drafting, revising and refining without unnecessary pressure.

Answer the Prompt Directly

Every essay question is intentional. Stay focused on what is being asked and make sure your response clearly addresses the prompt. This helps Rice MBA recruiters to better understand your perspective and priorities.

Use Specific Examples

Concrete stories bring your application to life. Draw from experiences that highlight your growth, leadership, challenges or decision-making skills. Specific examples make your essays more engaging and credible.

Have Someone Proofread Your Work

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It's good to have another pair of eyes review your essays. 

Recruiters notice attention to detail. Before submitting, ask a trusted colleague, mentor or friend to review your essays for clarity, grammar and flow. Feedback can help ensure your message comes through clearly while staying true to your voice. 

More MBA Application Tips

Ultimately, strong MBA interviews and essays are less about perfection and more about preparation and authenticity. When you’re applying to a top school like Rice Business, each piece of your application should work together to tell your unique story and goals. 

If you’re ready to begin your journey, read more application tips from our Recruiting and Admissions Office, take a look at our MBA Admissions Guide, or reach out to a recruiter directly to have your questions answered.


Explore the Rice MBA 
 

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Rice Business is committed to helping you accelerate your career at any stage and supporting your professional growth long after graduation. The earnings potential shows investing in an MBA is well worth it.

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Between application prep, info sessions and campus visits, you'll find where you belong in no time.
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Why Are Rice MBA Programs Popular For Career Growth?

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Career

Discover why Rice MBA programs attract ambitious professionals seeking career growth, leadership development and long-term ROI.

Helen Huneycutt

Career growth is a top priority for those considering business school, and Rice MBA programs are designed with that goal at the center.

Whether students want to accelerate in their current field or broaden their opportunities across industries, the Rice MBA offers them a curriculum built around leadership, strategic thinking and real-world decision-making — and a strong ROI that pays off for years to come.

Strong Outcomes Backed by Top Rankings

Every student’s path is unique. That’s why we offer five different MBA programs to meet professionals on their path: Full-Time, Professional (Evening, Weekend or Hybrid), Executive and Online MBA.

Rice University’s MBA programs are consistently ranked among the best in the country, due to our rigorous academics, strong employment outcomes and tight-knit community.

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Lilie Lab celebrates our seventh year as the No. 1 Graduate Entrepreneurship Program.

Our graduates regularly land competitive roles across consulting, finance, energy, technology and healthcare. Rice Business is proudly home to the #1 MBA in Texas (Financial Times, 2023-24, based on global rankings) and the #13 Best Part-Time MBA (U.S. News and World Report, 2025) — and the career outcomes of our graduates proves why.

Long-Term ROI on Your Rice MBA

Salary growth is a leading consideration for many applicants, and Rice MBA graduates often see immediate increases in earning potential. Full-Time MBA graduates see an average starting salary of $150,000 and a $33k average signing bonus, according to career outcomes from the Class of 2024.

MBA tuition is an important factor for prospective students — but it shouldn’t make the decision. An MBA from Rice pays lifelong dividends, and graduates see a return on their investment fairly quickly. 

See how the numbers add up with James Weston, senior associate dean for degree programs and Harmon Whittington Professor of Finance:
 


Plus, the combination of transferable skills, strategic thinking and access to top employers is immediate, long-lasting and invaluable.

Interested in Rice Business?

 

The Rice MBA Opens Doors

Houston’s position as one of the most globally connected business hubs gives students proximity to a wide range of industries, including energy, healthcare, finance, innovation and international trade. That proximity translates into direct access to companies that actively recruit on campus, giving Rice MBA students regular, relationship-driven touchpoints with employers across Houston’s most influential industries. 

Pivot, Climb and Grow at Rice Business

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Rice MBAs and professionals network at the 2025 Tech Industry Week.

The Career Development Office helps students build relationships with leading employers through events, alumni networks and project-based learning, and we’re intentional about fostering strong connections. That’s how approximately 70% of our Full-Time MBA graduates accept job offers from right here within the Rice Business community. 

Many Rice MBAs also attend business school with one goal in mind: pivot. From our Professional MBA Class of 2024, 33% of graduates changed employers, while 24% made a strategic shift into a new industry. 

Whether your goal is to launch your career, level up or enter a new field, Rice Business provides a unique foundation for career growth in Houston and beyond.

Support at Every Step

For prospective MBA students seeking career advancement, meaningful support and long-term opportunity, Rice offers a powerful environment to take the next step with confidence. 

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Rice Business alumni receive lifelong support after graduation.

And that support doesn’t end at graduation. Our alumni remain closely connected to Rice Business throughout their careers, with lifetime access to professional and educational resources, alumni networks across the country, and a community of more than 60,000 Rice University alumni around the world.

Connect with an MBA student ambassador to hear how the Rice MBA makes an impact on your career, immediately. 


Explore the Rice MBA 
 

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Industry Weeks: How Rice MBAs are Exploring New Careers

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In our inaugural Industry Weeks Series, Rice MBA students got an in-depth look at four major sectors — energy, healthcare, tech and real estate — through fireside chats, career treks and high-level networking.

Troy Tabner, Associate Director of Communications and Events (CDO)

This fall, our Career Development Office rolled out four Industry Weeks throughout the semester, each one week long. In addition to the recruiting activities that already take place, this new series adds focus and structure to recruiting, especially in industries where the process may be less structured.

The first Industry Week Series offered immersive events helping Rice MBA students explore major sectors, make meaningful connections and gain career insights.

The series drew 34 companies and more than 250 student attendees, with especially strong engagement from our Full-Time MBA program. Across four themed weeks — energy, healthcare, tech and real estate — students connected with alumni, executives and recruiters through dynamic, informative events.

Week One: Energy

Inside Houston’s Energy Hub

Houston’s position as a global energy hub made Energy Week central to the series. Students participated in alumni-led recruiting panels, fireside chats with senior leaders and networking sessions exploring diverse energy careers.

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Director of Employer Engagement Tyler Hough moderates a chat between Nancy Fischer ’09 and Tatiana Chavanelle ’09.

Rice MBA students heard recruiting tips from Nikki Beittenmiller ’24 of Quanta Services, Juno Lee ’23 of Grid United, Diana Martinez-Prieto ’23 of Urban Grid and Christian Okolski ’19 of Engie. Later that week, Nancy Fischer ’09 (Constellation Energy) and Tatiana Chavanelle ’09 (Phillips 66) also discussed leadership and industry evolution in a fireside chat.

A career trek to Phillips 66 and NRG gave students firsthand insights on how energy companies balance current operations with innovation in refining, midstream, renewables and emerging technologies.

Week Two: Healthcare 

Exploring the Texas Medical Center

Healthcare Week immersed students in Houston’s fast-paced healthcare sector. With the Texas Medical Center just minutes from Rice campus, students gained premier access to industry leaders and innovations. Programming opened with a conversation hosted by the Healthcare Association featuring Kyle Stanzel, COO of Houston Methodist West.

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Rice MBA students networking with healthcare professionals at an industry week event.  

The week continued with a thoughtful examination of career pathways, challenges facing the industry and the role of innovation in healthcare by panelists Bill Atkinson of MD Anderson, Sarah Gelb ’17 of Johnson & Johnson and Kathleen Reiter ’25 of McKesson.

Students visited MD Anderson for a strategy case study, presenting recommendations directly to healthcare executives.

Interested in Rice Business?

 

Week Three: Tech

Tech Innovation and Transformation in Texas

Tech Week brought alumni and recruiters to McNair Hall for two days of panels on recruiting strategies and tech sector transformation.

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Rice MBA students visit HP on the Houston Tech Trek.

Students were joined by panelists Will Coblentz of Salesforce, Eileen Ramirez of Infosys, Thiago Silva ’21 of C3AI, Alice Wen ’23 of Dell and Marcus Wade ’23 of HP, who shared insights on breaking into tech roles and navigating fast-moving careers. A fireside chat with Boyd Skelton ’09 of Westwood Global Energy Group, Aaron J. Knape ’08 of sEATz and Alex Saab ’18 of Microsoft explored leadership, product strategy and the evolving landscape of AI and cloud technologies.

Rice MBAs visited HP and HPE during the Houston Tech Trek to explore digital transformation and learn how Houston’s tech community drives innovation and career opportunities.

Week Four: Real Estate 

Career Connections Across Houston and Beyond

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Rice MBA students on a trek to Hines in downtown Houston.

The final week highlighted Houston’s strong real estate market and growing student interest. Rice Business hosted the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF) Program, bringing executives from CBRE, PNC, Greyston and Berkadia to campus. The forum and career fair, open to students from neighboring schools like the University of Houston, Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University, covered industry entry, trends and career success.

Students heard from alumni Zach Dobin ’20, Lauren Gagetta ’21 and Carter Dowd ’23 during a panel on transitioning into post-MBA careers and visited Hines for an inside look at the global real estate firm.

“Hines is a staple of Houston,” says Hector Ibarzabal '27. “Being able to get close to a group that shapes the land with concrete impact across geographies is a worthy experience.” 
 

What’s Ahead From the CDO?

Beyond Industry Weeks, the CDO hosts year-round programs connecting Rice MBAs with professionals across industries, including:

Through Industry Weeks and ongoing programming, the CDO connects students with Houston’s business community while empowering them to discover and achieve their professional goals.

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Rice Business Research in 2025

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Check out some of the biggest Rice Business research insights from 2025.

Rice Business faculty have had a banner year for research, publishing award-winning work in top academic journals on a wide range of critical topics — from crisis stockpiling to reputation management, from disclosure clarity to product adoption.

While these studies vary in context and methodology, they share a common thread: they reveal how decision-making works in practice across business and policy environments.

Check out some of our biggest research insights from 2025!

6 of the Year’s Biggest Research Insights

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Google search trends can predict retail sales up to three quarters ahead.

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GenAI tools can boost workplace creativity, but only when employees use them strategically.

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Advance selling can help some businesses survive demand shocks during a major crisis.

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Corporate activism tends to follow social change, emerging only after an issue is settled legally or politically.

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“Look-ahead bias” can inflate returns in research that real investors can’t replicate.

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Consumer shopping data can expand lending access to borrowers with no credit history.


Thank you for reading Rice Business Wisdom this year!

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What Really Drives Data Center Location Decisions in the U.S.?

A new study shows a divided geography: some facilities cluster in cities for speed and access, while others move to rural regions in search of scale and lower costs.
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Data Centers

A new study shows a divided geography: some facilities cluster in cities for speed and access, while others move to rural regions in search of scale and lower costs.

This story is part of our special anniversary issue of Rice Business Wisdom on artificial intelligence.

Based on research by Tommy Pan Fang (Rice Business) and Shane Greenstein (Harvard)

Key takeaways:

  • Third-party colocation centers are physical facilities in close proximity to firms that use them, while cloud providers operate large data centers from a distance and sell access to virtualized computing resources as on‑demand services over the internet.
  • Hospitals and financial firms often require urban third-party centers for low latency and regulatory compliance, while batch processing and many AI workloads can operate more efficiently from lower-cost cloud hubs.
  • For policymakers trying to attract data centers, access to reliable power, water and high-capacity internet matter more than tax incentives. 
     

 

Recent power outages and the surge in AI-driven computing have made data center siting decisions more consequential than ever, especially as energy and water constraints tighten. Communities invest public dollars on the promise of jobs and growth, while firms weigh long-term commitments to land, power and connectivity.

Against that evolving backdrop, a critical question comes into focus: Where do data centers get built — and what actually drives those decisions?

A new study by Tommy Pan Fang (Rice Business) and Shane Greenstein (Harvard Business School) provides the first large-scale statistical analysis of data center location strategies across the United States. It offers policymakers and firms a clearer starting point for understanding how different types of data centers respond to economic and strategic incentives.

Published in the journal Strategy Science, the study examines two major types of infrastructure: third-party colocation centers that lease server space to multiple firms, and hyperscale cloud centers owned by providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

 

“The cloud feels weightless,” Pan Fang says, “but it rests on real choices about land, power and proximity.”

 

What are the two main data center location strategies?

The study draws on pre-pandemic data from 2018 and 2019, a period of relative geographic stability in supply and demand. This window gives researchers a clean baseline before remote work, AI demand and new infrastructure pressures began reshaping internet traffic patterns.

The findings show that data centers follow a bifurcated geography:

  • Third-party centers cluster in dense urban markets, where buyers prioritize proximity to customers despite higher land and operating costs.
  • Cloud providers, by contrast, concentrate massive sites in a small number of lower-density regions, where electricity, land and construction are cheaper and economies of scale are easier to achieve.

Third-party data centers, in other words, follow demand. They locate in urban markets where firms in finance, healthcare and IT value low latency, secure storage, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Using county-level data, the researchers modeled how population density, industry mix and operating costs predict where new centers enter. Every U.S. metro with more than 700,000 residents had at least one third-party provider, while many mid-sized cities had none.

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Map of data centers

This pattern challenges common assumptions. Third-party facilities are more distributed across urban America than prevailing narratives suggest.

“For industries where speed is everything, being too far from the physical infrastructure can meaningfully affect performance and risk,” Pan Fang says. “Proximity isn’t optional for sectors that can’t absorb delay.”

In critical operations, even slight pauses can have real consequences. For hospital systems, lag can affect performance and risk exposure. And in high-frequency trading, milliseconds can determine whether value is captured or lost in a transaction.

Why does distance matter for cloud data center costs?

For cloud providers, the picture looks very different. Their decisions follow a logic shaped primarily by cost and scale. Because cloud services can be delivered from afar, firms tend to build enormous sites in low-density regions where power is cheap and land is abundant.

These facilities can draw hundreds of megawatts of electricity and operate with far fewer employees than urban centers. “The cloud can serve almost anywhere,” Pan Fang says, “so location is a question of cost before geography.”

The study finds that cloud infrastructure clusters around network backbones and energy economics, not talent pools. Well-known hubs like Ashburn, Virginia — often called “Data Center Alley” — reflect this logic, having benefited from early network infrastructure that made them natural convergence points for digital traffic.

Local governments often try to lure data centers with tax incentives, betting they will create high-tech jobs. But the study suggests other factors matter more to cloud providers, including construction costs, network connectivity and access to reliable, affordable electricity.

When cloud centers need a local presence, distance can sometimes become a constraint. Providers often address this by working alongside third-party operators. “Third-party centers can complement cloud firms when they need a foothold closer to customers,” Pan Fang says.

That hybrid pattern — massive regional hubs complementing strategic colocation — may define the next phase of data center growth.

Looking ahead, shifts in remote work, climate resilience, energy prices and AI-driven computing may reshape where new facilities go. Some workloads may move closer to users, while others may consolidate into large rural hubs. Emerging data-sovereignty rules could also redirect investment beyond the United States.

“The cloud feels weightless,” Pan Fang says, “but it rests on real choices about land, power and proximity.”

Written by Scott Pett

 

Pan Fang and Greenstein (2025). “Where the Cloud Rests: The Economic Geography of Data Centers,” Strategy Science.


 

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