IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecdequ/v23y2009i4p306-316.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of New Employers From the Outside, the Growth of Local Capitalism, and New Amenities on the Social and Economic Welfare of Small Towns

Author

Listed:
  • Terry L. Besser

    (Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA, tbesser@iastate.edu)

  • Nicholas Recker

    (Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA)

  • Matthew Parker

    (Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the outcomes of economic development result in the anticipated economic and social benefits.The authors differentiated between the proximal outcomes of development (e.g., attracting a new employer) and their distal outcomes (e.g., increased employment and income). Indicators of economic change from secondary sources were merged with primary data from resident surveys and key informants’ interviews for 99 small Iowa towns for the analyses. Findings show that the opening of absentee-owned employers had positive economic benefits compared to the situation in other similar towns. However, it was not accompanied by gains in quality of life. The growth of local capitalism was associated with more positive quality of life outcomes. New amenities were not associated with economic or quality of life changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Terry L. Besser & Nicholas Recker & Matthew Parker, 2009. "The Impact of New Employers From the Outside, the Growth of Local Capitalism, and New Amenities on the Social and Economic Welfare of Small Towns," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(4), pages 306-316, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:306-316
    DOI: 10.1177/0891242409340899
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891242409340899
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0891242409340899?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Mcgranahan & Timothy Wojan, 2007. "Recasting the Creative Class to Examine Growth Processes in Rural and Urban Counties," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 197-216.
    2. M. Sirgy & Don Rahtz & Muris Cicic & Robert Underwood, 2000. "A method for assessing residents' satisfaction with community-based services: a quality-of-life perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 279-316, March.
    3. M. Sirgy & Terri Cornwell, 2001. "Further Validation of the Sirgy et al.'s Measure of Community Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 125-143, November.
    4. Rork, Jonathan C., 2005. "Getting What You Pay For: The Case of Southern Economic Development," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 35(2), pages 1-17.
    5. Steven C. Deller & Tsung-Hsiu (Sue) Tsai & David W. Marcouiller & Donald B.K. English, 2001. "The Role of Amenities and Quality of Life In Rural Economic Growth," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(2), pages 352-365.
    6. Goodman, D. Jay, 2003. "Are Economic Development Incentives Worth it? A Computable General Equilibirum Analysis of Pueblo, Colorado's Efforts to Attract Business," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 33(1), pages 1-13.
    7. Frédéric Corolleur & Claude Courlet, 2003. "The Marshallian industrial district, an organizational and institutional answer to uncertainty," Post-Print halshs-00127957, HAL.
    8. Ron Shaffer & Steve Deller & Dave Marcouiller, 2006. "Rethinking Community Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 20(1), pages 59-74, February.
    9. Whitener, Leslie A., 2005. "Policy Options for a Changing Rural America," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-8, April.
    10. Frédéric Corolleur & Claude Courlet, 2003. "The Marshallian Industrial District, an organizational and institutional answer to uncertainty," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 299-307, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jagoda Kalinga & Lin Xiaohua & Calvert Victoria & Tao Shaw, 2016. "Accountability of Venture Support Agencies: Do They Really Help?," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 175-206, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Terry Besser & Nancy Miller & Roshan Malik, 2012. "Community Amenity Measurement for the Great Fly-Over Zones," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(2), pages 393-405, April.
    2. Conroy, Tessa & Deller, Steven, 2021. "Spatial Patterns in the Relationship Between Religion and Economic Growth," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 51(2), April.
    3. M. Sirgy & Robin Widgery & Dong-Jin Lee & Grace Yu, 2010. "Developing a Measure of Community Well-Being Based on Perceptions of Impact in Various Life Domains," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 96(2), pages 295-311, April.
    4. Wojan, Timothy R. & McGranahan, David A., 2007. "Ambient Returns: Creative Capital's Contribution to Local Manufacturing Competitiveness," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association, vol. 36(1), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Elena G. Irwin & Andrew M. Isserman & Maureen Kilkenny & Mark D. Partridge, 2010. "A Century of Research on Rural Development and Regional Issues," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(2), pages 522-553.
    6. Dan S. Rickman & Hongbo Wang, 2017. "US regional population growth 2000–2010: Natural amenities or urban agglomeration?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96, pages 69-90, March.
    7. Amanda L. Weinstein & Michael Hicks & Emily Wornell, 2023. "An aggregate approach to estimating quality of life in micropolitan areas," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(2), pages 447-476, April.
    8. Pankaj Lal & Janaki Alavalapati & Evan Mercer, 2011. "Socio-economic impacts of climate change on rural United States," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 819-844, October.
    9. Yong Chen & David J. Lewis & Bruce Weber, 2016. "Conservation Land Amenities And Regional Economies: A Postmatching Difference-In-Differences Analysis Of The Northwest Forest Plan," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 373-394, June.
    10. Ángela Vásquez-Urriago & Andrés Barge-Gil & Aurelia Rico & Evita Paraskevopoulou, 2014. "The impact of science and technology parks on firms’ product innovation: empirical evidence from Spain," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 835-873, September.
    11. David Matarrita-Cascante, 2010. "Changing Communities, Community Satisfaction, and Quality of Life: A View of Multiple Perceived Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(1), pages 105-127, August.
    12. Chia-Pin Yu & Shu Tian Cole & Charles Chancellor, 2018. "Resident Support for Tourism Development in Rural Midwestern (USA) Communities: Perceived Tourism Impacts and Community Quality of Life Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    13. M. Olfert & Murray Jelinski & Dimitrios Zikos & John Campbell, 2012. "Human capital drift up the urban hierarchy: veterinarians in Western Canada," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 49(2), pages 551-570, October.
    14. Lina Bjerke & Charlotta Mellander, 2017. "Moving home again? Never! The locational choices of graduates in Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 707-729, November.
    15. M. Sirgy & Terri Cornwell, 2002. "How Neighborhood Features Affect Quality of Life," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 79-114, July.
    16. David A. McGranahan & Timothy R. Wojan & Dayton M. Lambert, 2011. "The rural growth trifecta: outdoor amenities, creative class and entrepreneurial context -super-§," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 529-557, May.
    17. Partridge, Mark D. & Rickman, Dan S., 2012. "Integrating regional economic development analysis and land use economics," MPRA Paper 38291, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Dan S. Rickman & Shane D. Rickman, 2011. "Population Growth In High‐Amenity Nonmetropolitan Areas: What'S The Prognosis?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 863-879, December.
    19. Rasker, Ray & Gude, Patricia H. & Delorey, Mark, 2013. "The Effect of Protected Federal Lands on Economic Prosperity in the Non-metropolitan West," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2).
    20. Adelaja, Adesoji O. & Hailu, Yohannes G. & Abdulla, Majd, 2009. "New Economy Growth Decomposition in the U.S," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49579, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecdequ:v:23:y:2009:i:4:p:306-316. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.