| Help for this screen |
When ready, click the "Save Report" button.
RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: ALTERNATIVES IN THE NEW COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
Investigators: Francis, J. D.
Termination Date:
09/30/2002
Reporting period:
01/01/2000 TO 12/31/2000
Progress Report:
We are continuing to attend meetings, read web pages and build a database of newpaper clippings to update our understanding of the relevant HUD and NYS programs influencing economic development. As the primary goal for the NY subproject is to evaluate the impact of federal and state funding programs on economic development in the 28 counties recognized as eligible for special consideration for HUD's CCI and NYS Canal Corporation special funding programs, extensive data on trends (1982-1998) in establishments, employment and wages as well as funds received from these programs. Using Box-Jenkins methods for time series analysis an attempt was made to find a discernable impact of these and related funding programs on economic development in these counties. Pooled regression procedures (panels), pursuing observed effects modeling, were used to provide additional validation of the findings. To place these trends into some context, analysis and comparisons were made to New York State as a whole and the upstate area, using IMPLAN/SAM and similarity of trends. The first main finding is that for some things New York State is performing better than this region, while the opposite is true for other indicators. The second main finding is that to date no discernable impacts can be found for this 28 county region as a whole on establishments, employment or wages that can be attributed to these funding programs. The next step is to separate the counties according to their rurality to assess possible differential impacts on the more rural counties compared to urban counties. A second goal of the NY subproject is to assess the relative success of securing funding from federal and state programs. After many frustrating starts we think we finally have obtained some reliable information to begin analysis on this goal. By next year we expect to be able to put the two threads of analysis together to draw a better profile of economic development and to compare rural versus urban counties. Lastly, we developed and tested an interview schedule to use with economic developers and planners in these counties.
Publications: (2)
Kay, David, Joe D. Francis and Ragendra De Sousa, 2000. "Economic Development in the Canal Corridor: Trends, Perceptions, Concerns." Paper presented at the 8th Annual Research-in-Progress Conference of the New York State Network of Economic Research. The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government. Albany, NY. December 2000.
Kay, David and Joe D. Francis, 2000. "Poverty, Wealth and the NY Canal Corridor." Poster Session presented at the 2nd Annual Cornell University GIS Expo. Ithaca, NY. May 2000.
Impact:
Knowing the profile of counties which have been more successful in securing program funds from federal and state agencies is important in providing guidance to these counties as to how to increase government transfers for economic development activities per se. Knowing how these funds get deployed within the county to improve private or public development is key to assessing their potential for increasing business activity and jobs. Lastly, presentations have been made at the NYS Canal Corporation and to the New York State Network of Economic Researchers about the findings to date on this project.