Author : Stuart C. Strother
Release : 2004
Genre : Urban economics
Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis Economic Development in American Cities by : Stuart C. Strother
Download or read book Economic Development in American Cities written by Stuart C. Strother. This book was released on 2004. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation is a study of the theory, practice, and impacts of economic development policy and practice in American cities, in an effort to answer the age-old question, "To what extent can government influence markets?" City governments face the classic economic problem of resource scarcity, and they experience the dilemma of having to choose how to allocate scarce resources among numerous competing interests. In the name of economic development, local governments assign public resources and employ various strategies and tactics, all designed to encourage economic growth. This study seeks to determine whether the economic development practices employed by local governments in U.S. cities are positively correlated with measures of economic growth in those cities. The major hypothesis of this study states, "The level of public sector economic development activity in U.S. cities is positively correlated with local economic growth." It is thought that cities that are more proactive in their economic development activity will have more economic growth, all other things being equal. A quantitative data set of 412 American cities was built from multiple sources, and multivariate correlation and regression analysis is conducted to discover whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the economic development programs in U.S. cities and economic growth in those cities. The analysis reveals that economic development policy only has a weak correlation with growth, suggesting that economic growth is determined by market conditions rather than government intervention. City leaders are nonetheless still expected to continue to employ numerous economic development policies, largely due to political pressures. The final chapters of this dissertation offer policy recommendations that are based in these economic and political realities.