Regional Economics Commons^™

The Economic Impact Of The University Of Arkansas, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas was established in the city of Fayetteville as both the state university and the major land‐grant university for Arkansas. The University of Arkansas is a flagship university for the integration of student engagement, scholarship and research, and innovation that collectively transforms lives and inspires leadership for a global society. As such, the impact of the University of Arkansas extends far beyond the transfer of knowledge from professors to students and is far reaching in social and economic terms. As leading research universities across the country engage in the process of enumerating the socio‐economic …

Searching For A New Brand: Reimagining A More Diverse Orlando, Kevin Archer, Kris Bezdecny

All Faculty Scholarship for the School of Graduate Studies and Research

No abstract provided.

Residential Values In Benton County: Current Outlook, Katherine A. Deck, Viktoria Riiman

Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this report is to evaluate the current underlying economic conditions in Benton County, Arkansas as they relate to the growth in the valuation of residential property values. First, the economic section provides some details of employment and population growth during the last two years. The second section discusses residential sale values and how they have changed from 2007 to 2008. Data from the Office of the Benton County Assessor and from the Arkansas REALTOR Association are used to demonstrate the change in property valuation.

Economic Impact Of Businesses Assisted By Southwest Michigan First, George A. Erickcek, Randall W. Eberts

Reports

This report estimates the contribution to the Kalamazoo-Portage MSA's economy by businesses that have received substantial assistance from Southwest Michigan First (SMF), a private, not-for-profit economic development agency serving the greater Kalamazoo region. The report examines the trends in employment, gross regional product, and wages and salaries generated by the 105 firms that SMF staff identified as receiving substantial assistance from SMF between 2000 and 2008. The estimates extend through the year 2012 in order to capture the employment projections offered by some of the assisted firms. The study also provides upper bound estimates of the benefit-cost ratio of the …

Economic Dashboard Supplemental Report: Other Social And Economic Indicators, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

Economic Scan And Workforce Development Profile: Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, And St. Joseph Counties, Brad R. Watts, George A. Erickcek, Bridget Timmeney, Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh

Reports

No abstract provided.

Michigan Socioeconomic Conditions And Trends: West Michigan Compared To East Michigan, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Michigan's Business Taxes And Economic Development: Possible Reforms, Timothy J. Bartik

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Economic Impact Of The 6th Annual Bikes, Blues, And Bbq Festival On The City Of Fayetteville, Jeffery T. Collins

Publications and Presentations

This report presents the results of the surveys used to develop estimates of the economic impact of the Bikes, Blues and BBQ (BBBBQ) festival on the city of Fayetteville in 2005. In order to fully estimate the economic impact of the festival, its influence was assessed on three different constituent groups: Fayetteville residents, local businesses, and BBBBQ visitors.

The visitor survey was developed by the Center for Business and Economic Research and was administered September 28-October 1, 2005 by University of Arkansas students who were hired and trained by the Center for Business and Economic Research. The resident and local …

Looking Beyond The Shipyard: Economic Development Challenges Of Southern Maine And Seacoast New Hampshire, Charles S. Colgan

Regional Studies

The threatened closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has spurred an intense examination of the future economic prospects for York County, Maine and Rockingham County, New Hampshire. This report provides the first integrated analysis of the shipyard’s effects on both the Maine and New Hampshire economies. The shipyard accounts for more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs across the two-state region. Over 80% of these jobs are in York County, with an additional 10% in Rockingham County and the balance spread through the rest of Maine and New Hampshire. The total jobs associated with the shipyard account for 3.5% of …

Welfare And Work: Experiences In Six Cities, Christopher T. King, Peter R. Mueser

Upjohn Press

King and Mueser examine changes in welfare participation and labor market involvement of welfare recipients in six major cities during the 1990s. By focusing on these six cities (Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, and Kansas City) they are able to glean the extent to which differences in state and local policy, administrative directives, and local labor market conditions contribute to the trends in caseloads, employment, and well-being observed among former recipients.

The Economic Impact Of Methamphetamine Use In Benton County, Arkansas, Jeffery T. Collins

Publications and Presentations

Methamphetamine use among the employed population is on the rise as general methamphetamine use increases. Many employers are unaware of the extent of the methamphetamine crisis and the harmful effects that employee methamphetamine use has on the firm. While methamphetamine use is associated with tremendous expenses for society in the form of direct health care, law enforcement, and environmental costs, this study focuses exclusively on the increased costs that firms bear as a result of the methamphetamine use of their employees. The Benton County Methamphetamine Task Force commissioned this project from the Center for Business and Economic Research in the …

Does "Trickle Down" Work?: Economic Development Strategies And Job Chains In Local Labor Markets, Joseph Persky, Daniel Felsenstein, Virginia Carlson

Upjohn Press

Persky, Felsenstein, and Carlson explore a new framework for evaluating state and local economic development efforts. They propose a method, referred to as the “job-chains approach,” that they say clarifies the potential justifications for economic development subsidies as well as the limitations surrounding these efforts. This innovative approach addresses not only the number of job vacancies created as a result of a subsidized business investment or expansion, but also the extent to which gains are achieved by the unemployed and the underemployed, whether skilled or unskilled.

Benchmarking Study Of The Small Business Environment In Saginaw County, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Michigan's Economic Development Policies, Timothy J. Bartik, George A. Erickcek

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Quality Of Life And Diversity In The Benton Harbor Metropolitan Area: Findings And Suggestions In Attracting Professional Workers, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Priming The Pump: Research As A Catalyst For Economic Growth, Jeffery T. Collins, Craig T. Schulman

Publications and Presentations

This analysis is designed to answer several important questions regarding the impact of research dollars invested in the state of Arkansas. We begin by discussing the state of the state in terms of income measures and measures of educational attainment levels. Throughout this analysis, the state of Arkansas is compared to the U.S., to a group of peer states , and, initially, to the state of Mississippi.

Next, we examine the linkage between income and education. We also examine higher education in the state in terms of spending, access and research dollars. From this general description we examine the present …

State Enterprise Zone Programs: Have They Worked?, Alan H. Peters, Peter S. Fisher

Upjohn Press

Peters and Fisher evaluate 75 EZs located in 13 states to gain an understanding of the overall effectiveness of state enterprise zones. Faced with a paucity of data on EZs that could be used in standard economic analysis, the authors employ a hypothetical firm model in which they apply various EZ and non-EZ incentives to financial statements created for a set of "typical" firms. Observing the impacts of both types of incentives on firms' financial statements allow Peters and Fisher to predict the firms' resulting behavior. Between these findings and the data accumulated from actual EZs, they are able to …

St. Joseph County Benchmarking Study, George A. Erickcek, Brad R. Watts

Reports

No abstract provided.

Bidding For Business: The Efficacy Of Local Economic Development Incentives In A Metropolitan Area, John E. Anderson, Robert W. Wassmer

Upjohn Press

Anderson and Wassmer examine the use and effectiveness of local economic development incentives within a specific region, the Detroit metropolitan area. The Detroit area serves as a good example, they say, because of the area's 20-plus year track record of its communities offering the gamut of economic incentives aimed at redirecting economic activity and jobs. The evidence they uncover reveals factors that drive cities not just in this Southeast Michigan area, but nationwide to offer particular types of incentives that are more or less generous than those offered by their neighbors.

Rising Wage Inequality: The 1980s Experience In Urban Labor Markets, Thomas Hyclak

Upjohn Press

Hyclak analyzes information not utilized in previous studies of wage inequality. Whereas researchers previously relied on data derived from the national labor market, Hyclak draws on data from the Area Wage Surveys (AWS), which allows him to focus on changes in the wage structure in a sample of 20 local labor markets for the period of 1974 to 1991. This source also allows him to examine changes in the structure of wages paid for some 40 different jobs found in four different occupational groups. In addition, Hyclak is able to concentrate on jobs and the skills required as the primary …

Changes In Income Inequality Within U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Janice Fanning Madden

Upjohn Press

In studying MSA data that link the characteristics of metropolitan economies to significant changes in income inequality, Madden is able to study changes in poverty rates, household income inequality, and wage inequality within 182 of the largest MSAs and to identify what she says are the three factors most likely to influence changes in income inequality in metropolitan areas.

Ingham County Economic Development Policy Assessment And Organization Implementation, George A. Erickcek, Gove Associates, Inc., W.E. Upjohn Institute For Employment Research

Reports

This report provides an independent assessment of Ingham County's current economic development policy and offers recommendations on how to make the county's role in economic development more effective.

Industrial Incentives: Competition Among American States And Cities, Peter S. Fisher, Alan H. Peters

Upjohn Press

This book is the first significant attempt to quantify the development efforts made by state and local governments. The authors' extensive research focuses on tax and incentive policies across the 24 most industrialized states in the United States and a sample of 112 cities from within those states.

Small Business Capital Access Study For The Cleveland Area: Summary Outline Of Findings, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

Social And Community Indicators To Monitor Berrien County's Needs For Social And Public Services, George A. Erickcek, Sharon Hanrahan, Sharon Pittman

Reports

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Importance Of Small Business In The Greater Cleveland Area, George A. Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

Question - What Can Be Done To Promote Inner City Development?: Answer - Focus On Labor Demand Policies To Increase Employment Of The Poor, Timothy J. Bartik

Testimonies

No abstract provided.

Economic Analysis Of The Greater South Haven Area: Choices & Consequences, George A. Erickcek, Christine R. Fahndrich

Reports

No abstract provided.

Restructuring The Mexican Sugar Industry: Campesinos, The State, And Private Capital, Donna Chollett

Anthropology Publications

Under the new agrarian policies and economic rules of Article 27, implemented in January 1992, the customary patters of political patronage and loyalty in the countryside no longer operate as before. Campesions now are challenged to think and act like entrepreneurs who assume investment risks in order to successfully participate in competitive markets. But most possess neither the economic resources nor worldviews to be the “campesino entrepreneurs” sought by the government or by the leaders of the Confederación Nacional Campesina (CNC) and the Confederación Nacional de Productores Rurales (CNPR), the two campesino confederations affiliated to the ruling PRI. This contradiction …