The Economic Status of Rural America in the Trump Era

Goetz, Stephen and Partridge, Mark and Stephens, Heather (2017): The Economic Status of Rural America in the Trump Era.

Abstract

To set the stage for future policies aimed at supporting economic prosperity in rural areas, we review the current economic conditions of rural America and the current literature. Rural America is often characterized as a uniform, distressed place where agriculture dominates. In fact, rural America is quite diverse with some regions doing well economically. In some areas, labor-saving technologies have reduced the workforce in many manufacturing and resource-dependent industries. However, integration with urban areas has weakened the economic divide between urban and some rural areas, while natural amenities have boosted the fortune of others. There is also evidence that homegrown enterprises can support growth even in the most remote, distressed regions. Policies to enhance growth should recognize the unique features of each place or region. Federal policies also need to strike a better balance between the farm sector and the much larger nonfarm rural economy that typically has been shortchanged; and such policies need to be rigorously evaluated.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Rural america, Trump, rural policy
• Subjects: P - Economic Systems > P4 - Other Economic Systems > P48 - Political Economy ; Legal Institutions ; Property Rights ; Natural Resources ; Energy ; Environment ; Regional Studies; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics

References

Acs, Z. J., Braunerhjelm, P., Audretsch, D., & Carlsson, B. (2009) “The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship.” Small Business Economics, 32(1), 15-30.

Akgün, A. A., Nijkamp, P., Baycan, T., & Brons, M. (2010) “Embeddedness of entrepreneurs in rural areas: a comparative rough set data analysis.” Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 101: 538-553.

Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J. (2009) “Mostly Harmless Economics, An Empiricist’s Companion.” Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Atems, B. (2013) “A Note on the Differential Regional Effects of Income Inequality: Empirical Evidence Using U.S. County Level Data.” Journal of Regional Science, 53: 656–671.

Autor, D.H. Dorn D. and Hanson G.H. (2013) “The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States.” American Economic Review 103: 2121-2168.

Barca, F., P. McCann and A. Rodríquez-Pose. (2012) “The Case for Regional Development Intervention: Place-Based versus Place-Neutral Approaches.” Journal of Regional Science 52: 134-152.

Bartik, T.J. (1991) “Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?” Kalamazoo, Mich.: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Berg, A.G. and J.D. Ostry. (2011) “Inequality and Unsustainable Growth: Two Sides of the Same Coin?” IMF Staff Discussion Note, SDN/11/08, April 8, 20pp. Available on-line.

Busso, M., Gregory, J., & Kline, P. (2013) “Assessing the incidence and efficiency of a prominent place based policy.” The American Economic Review, 103: 897-947.

Carruthers, J. and Vias, A.C. (2005) “Urban, suburban, and exurban sprawl in the Rocky Mountain West: Evidence from regional adjustment models.” Journal of Regional Science, 45: 21-48.

Chetty, R., Hendren, N., & Katz, L. F. (2016) “The effects of exposure to better neighborhoods on children: New evidence from the Moving to Opportunity experiment.” The American Economic Review, 106: 855-902.

Chetty, R., Hendren, N., Kline, P., & Saez, E. (2014) “Where is the land of opportunity? The geography of intergenerational mobility in the United States.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129: 1553-1623.

Deller, S. C., Tsai, T-H, Marcouiller, D. W., and English, D. B. K. (2001) “The Role of Amenities and Quality of Life in Rural Economic Growth.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 83: 352-365.

Drucker, J. (2015) “Economic Impact Analysis amid Rapid Change: Challenges, Strategies, and Examples from Defense Communities.” Journal of Planning Education and Research, 35: 401-418.

Evans, L., Grimes, A., Wilkinson, B., & Teece, D. (1996) “Economic reform in New Zealand 1984-95: The pursuit of efficiency.” Journal of Economic Literature, 34: 1856-1902.

Fan, Q., Goetz, S. J., & Liang, J. (2016) “The interactive effects of human capital and quality of life on economic growth.” Applied Economics, 48: 5186-5200.

Fleming, D. A., & Goetz, S. J. (2011) “Does local firm ownership matter?” Economic Development Quarterly, 253: 277-281.

Fritsch, M., & Wyrwich, M. (2014) “The long persistence of regional levels of entrepreneurship: Germany, 1925–2005.” Regional Studies, 48: 955-973.

Goetz, S. J., & Davlasheridze, M. (2016) “State-Level Cooperative Extension Spending and Farmer Exits.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.

Goetz, S. J., Davlasheridze, M., & Han, Y. (2015) “County-Level Determinants of Mental Health, 2002–2008.” Social Indicators Research, 124: 657-670.

Goetz, S. J. and Debertin, D. L. (2001) “Why Farmers Quit: A County-Level Analysis,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 83, 4: 1010-23.

Han, Y., & Goetz, S. J. (2015) “The economic resilience of US counties during the Great Recession.” The Review of Regional Studies, 45: 131.

Hanson A. (2009) “Local employment, poverty, and property value effects of geographically-targeted tax incentives: An instrumental variables approach,” Regional Science and Urban Economics, 39: 721-731.

Hanson A. and Rohlin S. (2011). Do location-based tax incentives attract new business establishments? Journal of Regional Science, 51(3): 427-449.

Isserman, A.M. and T. Rephann. (1995) The economic effects of the Appalachian Regional Commission, Journal of the American Planning Association 61: 345-364.

Johnston, W. E., & Frengley, G. A. (1991) “The deregulation of New Zealand agriculture: market intervention (1964-84) and free market readjustment (1984-90).” Western journal of agricultural economics, 132-143.

Kelsey, T., Partridge, M.D., and White, N. (2016) “Unconventional Gas and Oil Development in the United States: Economic Experience and Policy Issues.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, (38): 191-214. Kilkenny, M., and Partridge, M. D. (2009) “Export Sectors and Rural Development.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 91 4: 910-929. Levernier, W., M.D. Partridge & D.S. Rickman. (1998) "Differences in Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan U.S. Family Income Inequality: A Cross-Country Comparison." Journal of Urban Economics, 44: 272-290. Li, M., Goetz, S. J., Partridge, M., & Fleming, D. A. (2016) “Location determinants of high-growth firms.” Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 28: 97-125. Liang, J., & Goetz, S. J. (2016) “Self-employment and trade shock mitigation.” Small Business Economics, 46: 45-56. Low, S., Henderson, J., and Weiler, S. (2005) “Gauging a region’s entrepreneurial potential. Economic Review 3rd quarter, 61-89.” Kansas City, MO.: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

McGranahan, D. (2008) “Landscape influence on recent rural migration in the U.S.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 85: 228-240.

Moretti, E.. (2010) "Local Multipliers." American Economic Review, 100: 373-77.

Moy, E., Garcia, M. C., Bastian, Rossen, L.M., Ingram, D. D., Faul, M., Massetti, G. M., Thomas, C. C., Hong, Y., Yoon, P. W., & Iademarco, M. F. (2017) “Leading Causes of Death in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan Areas—United States, 1999–2014.” MMWR. Surveillance Summaries, 66: 1-8.

Neumark, D. and H. Simpson (2015) “Place-Based Policies.” Ch. 18 in Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Volume 5B, pp. 1197-1287.

O’Brien, D.J. and M.C. Ahearn (2016) “Rural Voice and Rural Investments: The 2016 Election and the Future of Rural Policy.” Choices, 4th Quarter.

Partridge, M. D. (2010) “The duelling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining US engines of growth.” Papers in Regional Science, 89: 513-536.

Partridge, M. D., & Weinstein, A. L. (2013) “Rising inequality in an era of austerity: the case of the US.” European Planning Studies, 21: 388-410.

Partridge, M. D., Rickman, D. S., Ali, K., & Olfert, M. R. (2008) “Lost in space: population growth in the American hinterlands and small cities.” Journal of Economic Geography, 8: 727-757.

Partridge, M.D., D.S. Rickman, K. Ali and M.R. Olfert. (2010) “The Spatial Dynamics of Factor Price Differentials: Productivity or Consumer Amenity Driven?” Regional Science and Urban Economics, 40: 440-452.

Partridge, Mark D., Stephan J. Goetz, and Maureen Kilkenny. (2013) “Why We Need Federal Statistical Data for States and Counties.” Choices, 28, Available at: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/submitted-articles/why-we-need-federal-statistical-data-for-states-and-counties

Piketty, T. (2013) “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.” Belnap Press/Harvard

Reimer, A., Han, Y., Goetz, S. J., Loveridge, S., & Albrecht, D. (2016) “Word Networks in US Rural Policy Discourse.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 38: 215-238.

Rupasingha, A., & Goetz, S. J. (2013) “Self‐employment and local economic performance: Evidence from US counties.” Papers in Regional Science, 92: 141-161.

Rupasingha, A., & Goetz, S. J. (2007) “Social and political forces as determinants of poverty: A spatial analysis.” The Journal of Socio-Economics, 36: 650-671.

Stephens, H. and Partridge, M. (2011) “Do entrepreneurs enhance economic growth in lagging regions?” Growth and Change, 42: 431-465.

Stephens, H., Partridge, M. and Faggian, A. (2013) “Innovation entrepreneurship and economic growth in lagging regions.” Journal of Regional Science, 53: 778-812.

USDA (2016) “FY 2017 Budget Summary,” Office of Budget and Program Analysis, Washington, DC. Available at: http://www.obpa.usda.gov/budsum/fy17budsum.pdf

(OPM) U.S. Office of Personal Management. (2017) America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again. Downloaded on March 17, 2017 at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf.

Wehrwein, G. and Johnson, H.A. (1943) “A recreation livelihood area.” Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, 19 2: 193-206.

Weiler, S. (2001) “Unemployment in Regional Labor Markets: Using Structural Theories to Understand Local Jobless Rates in West Virginia.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 54: 573-592.

Whitacre, B., Gallardo, R., & Strover, S. (2014) “Does rural broadband impact jobs and income? Evidence from spatial and first-differenced regressions.” The Annals of Regional Science, 53: 649-670.

Wu, J., & Gopinath, M. (2008) “What causes spatial variations in economic development in the United States?” American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 90: 392-408.

Ziliak, J. P. (2015) “Income, program participation, poverty, and financial vulnerability: Research and data needs.” Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 40: 27-68.