IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea05/19229.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

How Do Location Decisions of Firms and Households Affect Economic Development in Rural America?

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, JunJie
  • Gopinath, Munisamy

Abstract

This paper examines the causes of spatial inequalities in economic development across rural America. A theoretical model is developed to analyze interactions between location decisions of firms and households as they are affected by natural endowments, accumulated human and physical capital, and economic geography. Based on the theoretical analysis, an empirical model is specified to quantify the effect of these factors on key indicators of economic development across counties in the United States. Preliminary results suggest that households are willing to trade better amenities for lower income, and firms take advantage of this tradeoff by locating in areas with better climate and more recreational opportunities. In equilibrium, counties with better climate and more creational opportunities have lower income and more employment opportunities. Accumulated human and physical capital also significantly affect economic development across counties in the United States. Counties with more accumulated human and physical capital have higher income, more employment opportunities, and high development density. Remoteness has a negative effect on every measure of economic development indicator. It reduces income, employment, housing prices and total developed areas. Implications of the results for policy development to promote economic prosperity in rural America are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, JunJie & Gopinath, Munisamy, 2005. "How Do Location Decisions of Firms and Households Affect Economic Development in Rural America?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19229, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea05:19229
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.19229
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/19229/files/sp05wu02.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.19229?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. Lubowski, Ruben N., 2003. "Land Use Change," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-2, June.
    2. Wheaton, William C, 1977. "Income and Urban Residence: An Analysis of Consumer Demand for Location," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(4), pages 620-631, September.
    3. Stavins, Robert & Plantinga, Andrew & Lubowski, Ruben, 2003. "Determinants of Land-Use Change In the United States 1982-1997," RFF Working Paper Series dp-03-47, Resources for the Future.
    4. Munisamy Gopinath & Weiyan Chen, 2004. "Foreign direct investment and wages: a cross-country analysis," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 231-231.
    5. Rudzitis, Gundars, 1999. "Amenities Increasingly Draw People to the Rural West," Rural America/ Rural Development Perspectives, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 14(2), September.
    6. Daniel V. Rainey & Kevin T. McNamara, 1999. "Taxes and the Location Decision of Manufacturing Establishments," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 21(1), pages 86-98.
    7. Dennis Epple & Holger Sieg, 1999. "Estimating Equilibrium Models of Local Jurisdictions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(4), pages 645-681, August.
    8. Lubowski, Ruben N., 2003. "Land Use Change," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, pages 1-2, June.
    9. Epple, Dennis & Romer, Thomas, 1991. "Mobility and Redistribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 828-858, August.
    10. Masahisa Fujita & Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561476, April.
    11. Krugman, Paul, 1991. "Increasing Returns and Economic Geography," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(3), pages 483-499, June.
    12. Raquel Fernandez & Richard Rogerson, 1996. "Income Distribution, Communities, and the Quality of Public Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(1), pages 135-164.
    13. Gallup, John & Sachs, Jeffrey, 1999. "Geography and Economic Development," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294434, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    14. Dimitrios A. Giannias & Panagiotis G. Liargovas, 2002. "Firm and household mobility in the presence of variations in regional characteristics," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 36(2), pages 299-313.
    15. Brueckner, Jan K. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois & Zenou, Yves, 1999. "Why is central Paris rich and downtown Detroit poor?: An amenity-based theory," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 91-107, January.
    16. J. Vernon Henderson, Zmarak Shalizi, and Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "Geography and development," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 81-105, January.
    17. Geoghegan, Jacqueline & Wainger, Lisa A. & Bockstael, Nancy E., 1997. "Spatial landscape indices in a hedonic framework: an ecological economics analysis using GIS," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 251-264, December.
    18. LeRoy, Stephen F. & Sonstelie, Jon, 1983. "Paradise lost and regained: Transportation innovation, income, and residential location," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 67-89, January.
    19. 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.
    20. Elena G. Irwin, 2002. "Interacting agents, spatial externalities and the evolution of residential land use patterns," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 31-54, January.
    21. JunJie Wu & Richard M. Adams & Andrew J. Plantinga, 2004. "Amenities in an Urban Equilibrium Model: Residential Development in Portland, Oregon," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 80(1), pages 19-32.
    22. Munisamy Gopinath & Daniel Pick & Yonghai Li, 2004. "An empirical analysis of productivity growth and industrial concentration in us manufacturing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 1-7.
    23. JunJie Wu, 2001. "Environmental Amenities and the Spatial Pattern of Urban Sprawl," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 83(3), pages 691-697.
    24. Paul D. Gottlieb, 1994. "Amenities as an Economic Development Tool: Is there Enough Evidence?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 8(3), pages 270-285, August.
    25. Munisamy Gopinath & Rodrigo Echeverria, 2004. "Does Economic Development Impact the Foreign Direct Investment-Trade Relationship? A Gravity-Model Approach," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(3), pages 782-787.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. JunJie Wu & Munisamy Gopinath, 2008. "What Causes Spatial Variations in Economic Development in the United States?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(2), pages 392-408.
    2. Wu, JunJie, 2006. "Environmental amenities, urban sprawl, and community characteristics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 527-547, September.
    3. Emery N. Castle & JunJie Wu & Bruce A. Weber, 2011. "Place Orientation and Rural–Urban Interdependence," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 33(2), pages 179-204.
    4. JunJie Wu, 2010. "Economic Fundamentals And Urban–Suburban Disparities," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(2), pages 570-591, May.
    5. Colin Vance & Rich Iovanna, 2008. "Cities and Satellites: Spatial Effects and Unobserved Heterogeneity in the Modeling of Urban Growth," Ruhr Economic Papers 0043, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    6. repec:zbw:rwirep:0043 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Vance, Colin & Iovanna, Rich, 2008. "Cities and Satellites: Spatial Effects and Unobserved Heterogeneity in the Modeling of Urban Growth," Ruhr Economic Papers 43, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Daniel C. Monchuk & John A. Miranowski & Dermot J. Hayes & Bruce A. Babcock, 2007. "An Analysis of Regional Economic Growth in the U.S. Midwest," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 29(1), pages 17-39.
    9. Loumeau, Gabriel, 2023. "Locating Public Facilities: Theory and Micro Evidence from Paris," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    10. Brueckner, Jan K. & Selod, Harris, 2006. "The political economy of urban transport-system choice," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(6-7), pages 983-1005, August.
    11. 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.
    12. Langpap, Christian & Wu, JunJie, 2004. "Predicting The Effect Of Local Land Use Regulations On Biodiversity In The Western United States," 2004 Annual meeting, August 1-4, Denver, CO 20038, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    13. Ulrich B. Morawetz & H. Allen Klaiber, 2022. "Does housing policy impact income sorting near urban amenities? Evidence from Vienna, Austria," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(2), pages 411-454, October.
    14. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Stephen L., 2015. "Change and Persistence in the Economic Status of Neighborhoods and Cities," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1047-1120, Elsevier.
    15. Tabuchi, Takatoshi & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2002. "Taste heterogeneity, labor mobility and economic geography," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 155-177, October.
    16. Boustan, Leah Platt, 2013. "Local public goods and the demand for high-income municipalities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 71-82.
    17. Waights, Sevrin, 2018. "Does gentrification displace poor households? An ‘identification-via-interaction’ approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88691, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Chunhua Wang, 2010. "Falling commuting costs, amenity advantages, and suburbanization," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(2), pages 351-364, October.
    19. Langpap, Christian & Hascic, Ivan & Wu, JunJie, 2006. "Predicting Watershed Ecosystems Through Targeted Local Land Use Policies," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21262, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    20. van Duijn, Mark & Rouwendal, Jan, 2021. "Sorting based on urban heritage and income: Evidence from the Amsterdam metropolitan area," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    21. Thomas J. Nechyba & Randall P. Walsh, 2004. "Urban Sprawl," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 177-200, Fall.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Community/Rural/Urban Development;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:aaea05:19229. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    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.