NE1049: Community Health and Resilience

(Multistate Research Project)

Status: Inactive/Terminating

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SAES-422 Reports

Annual/Termination Reports:

[05/20/2013] [05/30/2014] [06/11/2015] [05/30/2016] [05/12/2017]

Date of Annual Report: 05/20/2013

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 04/04/2013 - 04/06/2013
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2012 - 04/01/2013

Participants

Brian Whitacre - Oklahoma State University; Peter Stenberg - ERS; Dawn Thilmany - Colorado State University; Stephan Goetz - NERCRD and Penn State University; John Halstead - University of New Hampshire; Philip Watson - University of Idaho; Tom Johnson - University of Missouri; Matt Fannin - Louisiana State University; Bruce Weber - Oregon State University; David Hughes - Clemson University; Mark Burkey - North Carolina A&T University; Siew Lim - North Dakota State University; Daniel Rossi - Rutgers University; Leigh-Anne Krometis - Virginia Tech University; Dave Shideler - Oklahoma State University; Judy Stallmann - University of Missouri; Pat Hipple - NIFA, USDA; Mark Skidmore - Michigan State University; Warren Kriesel - University of Georgia; Mark Partridge - The Ohio State University; and Todd Gabe - University of Maine

Brief Summary of Minutes

2013 Annual Technical Meeting
NE-1049 Regional Project
Key Bridge Marriott, Washington DC
April 4-6, 2013

1. General business;
a. Welcome and attendance;
b. Introductions;
c. Approve minutes of 2012 NE-1029 Technical Meeting;
d. Additions to agenda;
e. Election of new Chair and Secretary;
f. Select next years meeting location;

2. New business;
a. NE-1049: October 2012 to September 2017;
b. Objective 1: Local/Regional Foods - To better understand the emerging opportunities and threats to the economic structure of non-metropolitan communities arising from the potential shifts in local and regional food systems;
c. Objective 2: Community Resilience and Natural / Human-Made Disasters - To identify and analyze policies and strategies contributing to the viability and resiliency of communities in responding to economic and policy changes and to natural and human-made shocks;
Natural disasters - floods, hurricanes, tornados, etc;
Human-made "disasters" - economic, terrorism, poor pest policies, etc;
Resiliency in this context is more than emergency management. Long-term perspective is critical, not the short-term FEMA-type view such as a focus on rebuilding in damaged areas. Our focus is on long-run sustainability and ability of communities to respond to changes and to grow;
d. Plans for upcoming year: conferences, grant proposals, other collaborations;

3. Review of state accomplishments and individual activities

Minutes Attachment:

Attachment

Accomplishments

NE-1049 has a start date of October 1, 2012. Accomplishments will be reported in the next annual report.

Publications

NE-1049 has a start date of October 1, 2012. Publications will be reported in the next annual report.

Impact Statements

NE-1049 has a start date of October 1, 2012. Impacts will be reported in the next annual report.

Date of Annual Report: 05/30/2014

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/27/2014 - 03/29/2014
Period the Report Covers: 10/01/2012 - 03/01/2014

Participants

John Halstead - University of New Hampshire;
Philip Watson - University of Idaho;
Tom Johnson - University of Missouri;
Bruce Weber - Oregon State University;
Yong Chen - Oregon State University;
Mark Burkey - North Carolina A&T University;
Daniel Rossi - Rutgers University;
Dave Shideler - Oklahoma State University;
Judy Stallmann - University of Missouri;
Hua Qin - University of Missouri;
Steve Deller - University of Wisconsin;
Jim McConnon - University of Maine;
Mitch Renkow – North Carolina State;
David Kay – IMPLAN Inc.

Brief Summary of Minutes

1. Attendance and introductions

2. Minutes approved unanimously

3. Dan Rossi

Briefed on requirements of multi-state project

Changes in the new farm bill

New foundation for food and agriculture
Programs that lapsed are back
New 1890 – Central State University in Ohio
NIFA received increase in budget
Greater need to document impact
Extension community starting new website to document impact, research to join
Delphi to identify societal challenges, distilled down to 3 issues: roadmap
Working with a marketing agency to market NIFA
Starting on a visioning process to identify future societal challenges and future of the process of decision making.
100th anniversary of Smith Lever – Cooperative extension
Need for more social science representation in NIFA research agenda
Need strong academic leaders to represent social science
Need for room for exploratory research, not just immediate results
What is the role of non-profits and NGOs?

4. Electing new secretary: Yong Chen voted incoming secretary

5. Choosing location for next year’s meeting:

Next meeting with Southern Regional Science Association – Mobile, AL; March 26th; Battle House Renaissance

6. Other business:

Reminded of focus on primary objectives
Accomplishments and impact statements needed soon
Focus on impacts (changes that result from activities)
Annual reports should be sent to Brian Whitacre

7. Special Address: David Kay from IMPLAN

Changes
New data sets
New opportunities

Minutes Attachment:

Attachment

Accomplishments

The first 1.5 years of the NE-1049 group have been very productive. 48 publications in peer-reviewed journals were reported across 14 states over this time period, in addition to 58 technical reports / staff papers / book chapters / conference papers. Objective 1 - Local / Regional Foods: To better understand the emerging opportunities and threats to the economic structure of non-metropolitan communities arising from the potential shifts in local and regional food systems. The recent push for promoting local foods has sometimes touted benefits that include economic growth and development. The research to support such a claim, however, is quite weak. NE-1049 researchers in Wisconsin and Colorado have responded to this issue by developing a series of working papers, making presentations at state and regional conferences, and conducting workshops and seminars geared towards educating individuals involved with the local foods movement. This body of work generally focuses on moving from the promotion of the local foods market towards developing sustainable business practices by the farmers participating in those markets. Helping these individuals think through their business strategies is a vital part of improving the current local and regional foods movement – as is ensuring that claims of enhancing “economic development” are not oversold. Researchers in Colorado have also published papers on the economic value of agritourism, and issues/opportunities surrounding small farm transitions. Along these same lines, researchers from Pennsylvania, Vermont, and the USDA examined whether community-focused agriculture can serve as a development strategy to induce local economic growth. The study found no association between community-focused agriculture and growth in total agricultural sales at the national level, but did in some regions of the U.S. A $1 increase in farm sales led to an annualized increase of $0.04 in county personal income. Community-focused agriculture made significant contributions to economic growth within the northeastern U.S region. Recognizing the regional differences that exist in the economics of local foods is crucial to putting the issues in context. Additional research assessed wholesale hub locations in food supply chain systems, and observed the relationship between food store density, eating habits, and obesity. Several states in the group participated in USDA’s Stronger Economies Together (SET) program that focuses on capacity building in rural America. Each participating region is made up of at least 3 counties that agree to work together and develop a high-quality regional economic development plan. Researchers from NC, OK, OH, PA, CO, MO, and GA were involved; one important element included developing an economic analysis of the region’s current or emerging clusters. A common theme among many participating regions was to produce / consume more local food products and to enable agriculture to play a greater role in the local economy. Several strategies emerged that focused on these topics, including training farmers on alternative production / marketing tactics and establishing regional marketing facilities (food hubs). The anticipated impacts include increased farm profitability (along with spillover effects into other parts of the economy) and gains from the general process of collaboration between SET communities. Researchers in North Carolina examined the impact of USDA broadband loans on the agriculture industry. They used modern evaluation techniques (such as average treatment effects) to assess whether specific indicators of economic performance in the agriculture sector were positively affected by the broadband loan program. Generally, the results confirmed that the USDA programs did benefit the agricultural sector, with recipients of broadband loans having higher increases to their farm revenues and overall profits than otherwise similar counties that did not receive any loans. Positive impacts to the crop sector are particularly noted, while gains to the livestock sector have effectively disappeared after the initial pilot loan program (around 2002-2003). Importantly, many of the benefits of the current program are concentrated in rural areas. This type of analysis is crucial to justify expending public resources in rural areas. Without this type of policy evaluation, assessing the value of specific investments in rural America would be impossible. One major issue associated with local foods is that as consumers buy local through direct contact with producers, they reduce their buying at local retailers. The net impact on rural communities has yet to be evaluated. A survey of revenues and expenditures of producers for local food markets was developed and administered in Missouri and Nebraska. Analysis is just beginning, but the results will be used to create an input-output model that can estimate the net impact and assess the overall impact on rural communities. Objective 2 – Community Resilience and Natural / Human-made Disasters: To identify and analyze policies and strategies contributing to the viability and resiliency of communities in responding to economic and policy changes and to natural and human-made shocks. In Michigan, NE-1049 researchers have focused heavily on Detroit’s tax base erosion following the Great Recession. This has included journal articles on options for property tax reform and the potential impacts of property tax rate changes on residential and business property values. This research has received a significant amount of attention; the state tax commission became involved and conducted an independent investigation. The Detroit mayor also announced in late 2013 that property assessments may be reduced by as much as 50% in some locations. An estimate of the savings to property owners would be in the neighborhood of $30 million. Other research in Michigan has focused on the interplay between natural disasters and the formation of social capital, which is an important but relatively unexamined aspect of natural disasters in the economics literature. This ties in nicely with what researchers in New Jersey are working on, which essentially constructs community-level databases of people’s needs or skills during and after a time of disaster. Essentially a community-based social network, this project has begun work in three states (NJ, NY, and PA) by launching the community exchange networks and beginning the planning process for how to inform the public about the benefits of this type of sharing economy. County extension agents are seen as crucial to this process, and the project itself serves as an example of the linkage between research and outreach. Researchers in Wisconsin and Missouri have teamed up to study tax and expenditure limitations – in particular, whether they hinder bridge infrastructure, how they impact state credit ratings, and their relationship with economic growth. These types of studies are vital to the topic of community resiliency, as they deal with a relatively common policy issue that have become increasingly under scrutiny since the Great Recession. These policies limit the level or growth of government revenues or spending, but the implications can vary dramatically across jurisdictions or potential uses of the funds. Understanding these linkages is crucial for policy making associated with community resilience. On the topic of community resilience, a team of researchers in Ohio has focused on assessing economic development policies. In particular, how effective these policies are in creating jobs, reducing poverty, increasing incomes for the middle class, and in promoting sustainable development. They have also studied how land use activities contribute to carbon emissions – and, in turn, climate change. Spinning off from this, the researchers have sought to develop practical ways to generate long-term economic growth at the local and regional scale through improved land use planning and long-term government policymaking. Their research has also examined the implications of the interdependence of regional economic growth, including the rural-urban linkages that are vital to today’s society. Important findings include that universities are indeed crucial to develop human capital, but perhaps not as important as initially thought on topics such as spin-offs or ‘creative’ jobs. Additionally, their work has clarified the role of natural amenities in generating regional growth, as population in counties with high-value amenities has become more concentrated over time. Ohio researchers also focused heavily on environmental issues, with policy briefs looking at issues such as how emerging shale natural gas mining will affect the state and local economy, along with the associated housing needs. Press releases, web-based publications, radio interviews, op-ed pieces, and public presentations accompanied many of these policy briefs. These have all had an impact on long-term planning associated with the shale energy boom. Researchers in Tennessee investigated the role of rural firms in regional clusters. In particular, they sought to determine what factors influenced clustering, and what cluster characteristics were related to the cluster’s impact on local economic development. In particular, the role of innovation and a supportive entrepreneurial / small business environment was assessed. Their research focused on the Appalachian region, which is important because many of the counties in this region are persistent poverty, have low wage occupations, and have a high percentage of jobs in resource extraction. The research suggests that road infrastructure financed by the Appalachian Regional Commission was crucial for improving job and income levels in these counties. This suggests that rural economies may expand as access to agglomeration economies increases. Other research, focused explicitly on manufacturing establishments in the region, suggests that firm entry and exit were significantly influenced by firms that managed to survive and stay in the market – and that the idea of “creative destruction” was not necessarily holding sway. These results are useful for understanding implications for policies aimed at attracting or retaining manufacturing establishments in rural America. In particular, they suggest that stimulating firm birth could contribute to a sustainable manufacturing base of incumbent firms. Missouri has developed several tools that are useful for helping local governments understand long-term budget trends, and has presented national webinars and trainings on the topic. They also briefed members of the American Water Works Association on the use and functionality of the Economic Consequences Assessment Tool, which helps water utility managers reduce the economic costs of water outages. Several states (Missouri, Oregon) and the USDA worked cooperatively to develop strategies contributing to wealth creating in rural areas. Two dominant strategies included entrepreneurship and emphasizing existing rural resources. Outputs included articles, book chapters, presentations and policy briefs. Researchers in Oregon have looked at whether the land use decisions made by the federal government have impacted communities in the northwestern U.S. In particular, the Northwest Forest Plan that went into place in 1994 shifted over 11 million acres out of forest production and into forest protection. Timber harvests on federal land declined dramatically as a result, and many residents were concerned that their way of life would be negatively impacted. The research found, however, that implementation of the NWFP appears to have increased community wealth as measured in real property value per capita of the communities close to the NWFP land (except if they were dependent on logging). Importantly, the short-term effects (i.e. during the 1990s) were negative for the wealth and income of communities with ties to the wood products industry; but after 2000, the negative impacts subsided and NWFP adjacent communities experienced higher growth in community wealth than communities more than 10 miles from NWFP-protected land. Oregon researchers also looked at migration in rural areas. They found that the long-run distribution of population across rural U.S. counties with high-valued natural amenities has become relatively more concentrated (versus dispersed). This likely has implications for policy induced behavior changes and the effectiveness of ecological policies. Policies that ignore the recursive relationship between urbanization and water quality unintentionally exacerbate boom-bust cycles of regional growth and decline, and risk pushing the system towards long-run economic decline. Oregon researchers also examined out-migration among rural communities, and determined that smaller communities are more at risk of population loss than are larger ones. Further, they examined the economic interdependence of a specific metropolitan core (Portland) and its rural periphery, and found that the core has grown faster than the periphery. They documented the extent to which core growth affects the periphery and vice-versa; and noted that the fortune of each region is affected by growth or decline in the other. They also explored how increases in SNAP participation impacted the core – periphery relationship, and found that the core benefits more from a given level of income transfer to poor households, while high-income households benefit more than low-income households from the indirect and induced impacts of SNAP. Examining differences in skills across the U.S. rural-urban hierarchy, researchers in Maine find that the occupation clusters that are the most prevalent in rural areas are among the lowest in terms of required skills. This has implications for the pattern of earnings that is observed across the rural-urban hierarchy. Researchers also analyzed the economic impacts of big-box stores on Maine’s retail sector, and assessed how being in the “creative class” impacted post-recession employment trends. They found that members of the creative class had a lower probability of being unemployed and that the impact of having a creative occupation become more beneficial in the 2 years following the recession. Broadband Internet access remains an important issue in rural America. Researchers at USDA and in Oklahoma continue to explore the relationship between the Internet and rural economies. Studies have looked at the economics of communication and information service delivery. The USDA-ERS has advised the GAO, FCC, OECD, USDA-RUS, WTO, and NTIA on the subject. A comprehensive report from researchers in OK, TX, and MS provided in-depth analysis of the current state of the rural – urban “digital divide”; the primary deterrents of adoption in rural areas; and the influence of broadband on rural economies. The researchers use a variety of modeling techniques to suggest that it is broadband adoption (and not just availability) that is driving improved economic outcomes in rural areas. For example, a rural county that aggressively adopted broadband by 2010 had higher rates of income growth and lower unemployment growth than did otherwise similar communities. Similarly, rural counties with low rates of broadband adoption saw lower growth in the number of businesses than their otherwise similar counterparts. A series of popular press articles summarizing these findings was published by the rural-oriented website The Daily Yonder. Current research is examining whether broadband availability has any impact on a physician’s decision on whether or not to adopt Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). Research in Oklahoma explored the long-term economic impacts of USDA water and sewer investments in rural communities across the state. Looking at loans and grants made to specific communities during the 1990s, they determined that the programs did have an impact on the median house value of those communities over the long run (15-20 years). No other long-term impacts were found. This type of program evaluation is useful to federal policymakers who seek to invest in programs that have measurable results. Linkages between counties are an important part of rural quality of life. Researchers in Minnesota compared where workers live and where they work; such information may be useful to county / commissioner planners and regional economic developers who want to better understand the spillover effects of job creation in different locations. They found that half of all Minnesota workers work in a different county from which they reside, demonstrating that local labor markets in Minnesota cover a broader geographic area than is often used for local economic development policies. They also looked into the provision of child care in rural communities, particularly investigating families with low incomes who use child case subsidy programs to help cover the cost of care. They looked at factors that could predict changes in child care arrangements by low-income families. Interestingly, parents who received a subsidy were not more likely to make changes in their child care provision.

Publications

Publications Attachment:

Attachment

Impact Statements

Research on property tax assessment in Detroit led to the Michigan State Tax Commission performing an independent evaluation. The city has announced it will conduct a reassessment of the entire city, potentially saving property owners around $30 million annually.
An economic impact study on Wisconsin rail road lines led to an additional $30 million appropriated for maintenance of the state-owned rail lines through the state legislature.
Working papers, state and local presentations, workshops, and seminars have moved the advocacy discussion associated with local foods from one centered on economic growth to one focused on developing sustainable business practices.
A county-level social capital database developed at Penn State was used as the basis for a Congressional Budget Committee testimony on economic mobility, and has attracted the attention of senior leadership within USDA.
A retail trade study conducted in Maine was cited as playing a critical role in starting up six retail businesses over the past two years, adding 109 full- and part-time jobs to the local economy.
Policy briefs on the topics of tax incentives and tax cuts written by Missouri researchers were picked up by the popular press and heavily used during the debate surrounding the state tax cut bill.
Trainings were held for the Missouri state legislature and the national local government extension group on the issue of long term trends in local government budgets.
An in-depth report on rural broadband was prominently summarized in a series of 4 articles on the popular press website, The Daily Yonder.
Research on rural-urban interdependence in Oregon has supported a series of community conversations. Eight of these conversations were held between November 2013 and March 2014.
Research on the CRP program (reported on in the 2012 NE-1029 filing) was featured in a Congressional Briefing examining the impacts of reduction of CRP on rural communities and the environment.
An evaluation of the USDA broadband loan program demonstrates that farms in counties that have been loan recipients have seen higher growth in farm revenue and profits.
An evaluation of the USDA water and sewer infrastructure program in Oklahoma demonstrates that long-term median house values are higher in communities that received funds.
Research on the emerging shale natural gas activity in Ohio has suggested that the employment impacts are significantly lower than those estimated by the alternative energy industry.
Work on the Stronger Economies Together (SET) plan with multi-county teams has resulted in the submission of 10 regional economic development plans to the USDA national office.

Date of Annual Report: 06/11/2015

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/26/2015 - 03/28/2015
Period the Report Covers: 04/01/2014 - 03/01/2015

Participants

John Halstead (University of New Hampshire);
Siew Lim (North Dakota State University);
Yong Chen (Oregon State University); Asif (Pakistan); David Shideler (Oklahoma State University); Minday Crandall ( University of Maine); Warren Kriesel (University of Georgia); Dayton Lambert (University of Tennessee); Tessa Conroy (University of Wisconsin, guest); Steven Deller (University of Wisconsin); Judith Stallmann (University of Missouri); Mark Skidmore (Michigan State University)

Brief Summary of Minutes

Introductions/attendance
Minutes of last meeting

Brian submitted annual report
Election of new officers

David Schideler, Secretary for 2016 and Chair for 2017

Yong Chen, Chair for 2016
Next meeting

It will be held in Washington D.C. with SRSA.
Station reports

Judith Stallmann: Tom Johnson has done research on local food producers trying to trace the value chain and investigate how to retain consumer food dollars. They find that local food producers, especially small ones, have bigger impacts on the local economy than larger ones, because small local food producers tend to use more local inputs and there is some evidence that they build social capital in local communities. To address the resilience objective of the project, collaborating with John Pender, USDA and Fannin, Louisiana, Tom worked on rural wealth creation on place-based policies. Stallmann conducted a research on rural infrastructure in Thailand with a graduate student. We find that rural infrastructure provided by local communities can be of higher quality than those provided by commercial contractors because of the ability to monitor in the former case. Research with Wisconsin and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, on the impacts of Tax and Expenditure Limitations show that TELs result in lower governmental aid from the state to local governments and an increase in the reliance on non-tax revenues. More restrictive TELS are associated with shifts in expenditure patterns, increasing expenditures in some areas and decreasing them on roads and income maintenance. In addition, larger states are able to capture economies of scale in production of public services, which lowers the need for revenues. Also, states with higher incomes and economic growth provide higher levels of public services, which indicate that public services are normal goods. Using the concept of entropy from information theory we show that an index of TEL restrictiveness is superior to the use of a dummy variable that only indicates the existence of a TEL. Stallmann provided a review of a state audit on local government borrowing costs

John Halstead: Collaborating with Steven Deller, we have edited the book entitled Social Capital at the Community Level (forthcoming). We intentionally invited people from multiple disciplines to contribute book chapters. In this way, the book illustrates how the same issue is investigated from different perspectives using different research methods by scholars from different disciplines. We are working on a USDA funded project on local foods. We find that people put high importance on looks of locally produced food. The willingness to pay for locally produced cucumber is as high as 50%. Deller asked whether there is a scale issue on who sells to restaurants versus direct sales. John mentioned the concerns of institutions about the smaller providers. Steven then mentions the possibility of building distribution network so that small local food producers can supply to the distribution centers. FISMA applies once you cross a threshold and is a high fixed cost per unit for small farmers.

Siew Lim: We studied the impact of the Bakken oil boom on local grocery prices. We found that grocery prices went up initially but tapered down about 12 months after the initial spike. We also completed a study on the economic impacts of the renewable energy industries on the local economy in North Dakota. We are working on a new project that studies groundwater allocation and water demand at the Bakken. Local water users and oil companies want to draw more water from the Missouri River, but they run into resistance from the federal regulator who is concerned about the environmental impact. There is tension between the state and federal governments due to the restrictive access to water from the Missouri River. Some municipal water users who have excess municipal water capacity convert their current unused water for industrial use (to sell water to oil companies). There are more firms (new water depots) seeking additional water permits for industrial use as well. The demand for water has gone up, but the access to the Missouri River's water is restricted. Thus some water users resort to groundwater as an alternative. But groundwater is not plentiful in North Dakota; it is particularly important to the livestock industry in the western part of the state, and continued groundwater withdrawal will have significant impacts not only on this industry but also on the environment in the region.

Yong Chen: Bruce Weber and Yong Chen contributed to the book on Wealth Creation. We finished the Oregon Sea Grant funded project on the engineering-economic integrated assessment tool for tsunami impact on community economy. This provides a tool to assess the community economic vulnerability against tsunami. The tool can be applied to other types of natural disasters and other locations. We have also investigated the impact of Northwest Forest Plan on community development and find that the implementation of Northwest Forest Plan has resulted in amenity related growth that increased the growth in population, income and property value in small communities near the Northwest Forest Plan.

David Shideler. We have an AFRI grant to investigate the impacts of local foods on local economies. We developed benchmarks and enterprise-budget type for different channels of selling. We also investigate the impact of droughts on employment, income in OK. We find that the impact of drought on employment is negative but that on income is the opposite. The positive impact on income is due to liquidation of cattle stocks. County level data is restricted because of budget cuts. Designation of drought is difficult so we use soil moisture index. Local government in OK relies on sales taxes and economic development is all about retail. OK is discussing the phasing out income tax at a time when oil price is down—severance tax lowered from 7 to 1%. ND allocates severance to local foundations and other things. OK spends money into some infrastructure and rainy day fund—has three rules to use it and never is.

Mindy Crandell: I was just approved on this project and started in Maine in Sept. In my research, I want to explore the tension between amenity use of forest land, traditional forest management, and potential conversions to development. As part of this I am initiating a project to modify a typology of timber and tourism dependence for northern Maine rural communities and use that to assess whether or not socio-economic outcomes are different by community type. I hope to show residents in these communities the current levels of dependence and encourage more focus on diverse strategies and goals for economic development. Todd Gabe and Jim McConnell encouraged me to be part of this group, but unfortunately I am not familiar enough with their accomplishments this year to report for the whole University.

Warren Kriesel: I investigate the development pressure on salt water marshes (important nursery for marine species). I use the hedonic models in the analysis. Subdivision design can be environmental friendly, especially for common areas. Buyers want commons areas—landscape, pond, playground. I am involved in a project to develop a simulation tool that can help the county planning based on growth projections to 2050. The tool can be used to answer questions like: what areas are likely to be converted and subdivided? It can also be used as scenario simulation tool for public planning and private land owners to visualize the impacts of disasters (such as hurricanes) given development patterns. ESRI’s ARCGIS does not have all of the capabilities to do this. Dayton mentioned that SmartScape of Univ. of WI, coded in Python, has multivariate indicators. Its beta version is on-line. It can tell what is at risk of loss from various hurricanes. There is shallow basin 30-40 miles out. Easterly wind blows water onto shore. The difference between the high and low tide can be 12 feet. People are considering elevation retrofitting homes or abandon first floor. In either way, the homeowner can benefit from lower flood risk premium.

The research about online exercise program is related to community health. In this program, participants self-report exercise data. Interesting questions include: What can a county do to reach subpopulations? The program is popular among white older women. How can the program reach others? Why do some exercise more than others? The program got $1million from Coke. However, the money went into the website. We should have farmed it out because in-house people keep leaving once have experience.

Finally, we did some research about feral swine control. We will conduct a cost effectiveness assessment on various control measures. OK is looking at various ideas. Surveillance system with a trap might work.

Dayton Lambert: Confidence interval among multipliers with Jason and Tim. We investigate two types of property taxes-tax on land versus tax on building, and how do they affect development density. We use Jason modification of firm location model—smooth parameter variation over space. We Integrate hydrolic model and agriculture, and then link it back into IMPLAN. In the paper with David Hughes, we conducted a network analysis on social capital.

Tessa Conroy (Guest): We conducted gender and regional analysis of entrepreneur with small business lending. We are exploring how to relate different reaction to local economic development. The birth and death rate have higher impact on employment in women owned enterprises. We just got access to NETS at $500000 and then $250000 annual. It allows us to study the dynamics in business relocation.

Steven Deller adds that the data is annual from 1990. Files are filled by owner and they self-report NAICS code—noise in data. It is under-documented. Purdue center for RD, Bo Beaulieu, have been using it for 5 years and a technician who is quite skilled. Steve puts out a study in various forms about firm movement. Less than 2% of firms move. For those relocating firms, they typically move within 5 miles and are usually with less than 5 employees. The policy implication is that we should focus on small existing businesses.

Mark Skidmore: In my current research, I am investigating the factors that make people vulnerable to tornados—while several measures of poverty seem to play a role, the quality of housing, mobile home living, is most important. Also, the proportion of households living in mobile homes has nearly tripled since 1070. I am also working on a USDA-DHHS grant focusing on mental health. We downloaded Google analytic data on search terms such as “depression” or “suicide” to see whether Google search data can be used to predict suicide rates. We find that one year lags are good indicators of suicide rates across the states, generating and R-square as high as 0.7. Research on mental/emotional health also shows the importance of diet; excessive sugar consumption can lead to significant physical, mental, and emotional problems. In my research on local government growth, I examine the potential role the deteriorating health associated with dietary changes may have on spending levels and priorities. This work indicates that deteriorating health associated with changes in diet (increased sugar consumption) has resulted in increased spending in human service-oriented local government responsibilities. Finally, I continue my research on the Detroit property tax environment where tax delinquency is 54%. I am also examine land and property values across the city with the goal of developing policies to increases exceptionally low values in most parts of the city. Around 62,000 properties are expected to enter into tax foreclosure in 2015.

Steven Deller: I have done works using NATS data (see Terra’s discussion). I have done some research on the relationship between social capital and economic performance of small business development. I have also done an interdisciplinary research that relates local food with economic growth and public health issues. Judy mentioned Steven’s leading role in the AJAE special e-issue on history of thinking on rural development.

Steven then described Dawn’s work on creating the how-to manual on economic impact assessment for USDA. The USDA has this grant opportunity on farmers and local food. It provides pilot, seed money, business loans but need economic impact assessment. The quality of the impact assessment section is very low. So USDA put together a team to create this how-to manual for it. It is in its final draft and USDA is looking at it. USDA likes it and is looking at other areas to do this.
Open discussions

Mark Skidmore led the discussion on the recent regional economic performance in face of oil price decreases and the recent appreciation of US dollar.

Steven Deller discussed the skill gaps between the employers and employees and the spatial mismatch between them. David Shideler and Judith Stallmann added to the discussion by mentioning the wage differences between the high school graduates and bachelors and the change of the wage differences over time.
Adjournment

Accomplishments

2014 has been a very productive year for the NE-1049 group. Approximately 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals were reported across 16 states over this time period, in addition to 65 technical reports / staff papers / book chapters / conference papers. Objective 1 - Local / Regional Foods: The team of researchers associated with NE 1049 are uniquely positioned to study the spatial issues related to local and regional foods systems. Two important forms of cross-state cooperation are evident in this research. First, a large share of the previous research was conducted collaboratively across states. Second, research methods and approaches have been developed in one state were subsequently employed by researchers in other states. Local and regional foods systems: by its very definition, a local foods system is a place-based concept: Farmers markets and other venues wherein local foods are bought and sold typically require that suppliers come from within some maximum distance. Hence, analyses of the economics of local foods systems must directly account for the location of participating producers and consumers. To this end, researchers in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Missouri worked to develop a better understanding of the emerging opportunities and threats to the economic structure of non-metropolitan communities arising from the potential shifts in local and regional food systems. Preliminary results of the research has found that while local food producers are able to retain a smaller proportion of the consumer’s food dollar when they buy locally produced food, compared to conventional agriculture, they impact on the local economy is larger because they use more local labor and purchase more inputs locally. We also found evidence that local and regional food systems increase the level of local social capital. Researchers in Michigan are investigating the relationship between healthcare costs, government spending and health outcomes and have found that increases in obesity and behavioral problems such as hyperactivity, anxiety, depression mental health, and violence associated with increased sugar consumption. Researchers in Idaho are conducting research to develop optimized strategies for small and medium-sized producers in Idaho to access local and regional markets. Through a survey of restaurants and grocery stores, we will estimate how consumer demand for local and regional products manifests in demand at restaurants and grocery stores. This effort will also estimate the market size for vegetable and livestock products, including the market for local and regional products and factors that influence demand for such products. A second research component will conduct supply-chain analysis to identify optimized strategies for aggregation, storage, processing and distribution for small and medium-sized farmers to access local and regional markets. A third effort will develop a geo-spatial database and model to determine the optimal spatial allocation of crop and livestock production based on the market-demand structure and supply chain configuration. This research will help small and medium- sized farmers make better strategic and operational decisions in terms of market positioning, supply-chain strategy, pricing, and benefits of collaboration with other producers. Outreach components will integrate research findings into education materials and training efforts as part of the University of Idaho Extension Small Farms Program. Researchers from Ohio investigated the impact of SNAP policy on food access and food insecurity. Objective 2 – Community Resilience and Natural / Human-made Disasters: Researchers in NE-1049 are heavily engaged in identifying and analyzing policies and strategies which contribute to the viability and resiliency of communities in responding to economic, policy, and natural shocks. NE-1049 researchers in Colorado worked to identify and analyze policies and strategies contributing to the viability and resiliency of communities in responding to economic and policy changes as well as natural and human-made shocks. Researchers in North Dakota studied economic resilience in relation to recent oil booms. Recent economic boom in western North Dakota sparked concerns among the citizens of the state about rapidly rising prices in the region, including both oil-producing and non-oil-producing counties. Working with North Dakota Extension, we conducted a monthly grocery price survey statewide between September 2012 and December 2013. The key outcomes or conclusions from the 16-month study indicate that prices were indeed volatile, especially in oil-producing counties, but there was no significant increase in grocery prices throughout the study period. Oil-producing counties experienced higher grocery prices than other counties, but no persistent upward trend in grocery prices was observed. The results create a change in perception and knowledge about the cost of living in North Dakota. The results were also important for businesses to assess their wage rates. Researchers in Idaho and Oregon are investigating the relationship between rural wealth and economic resilience. Project investigators were involved in editing and writing chapters for Rural Wealth Creation, a book that develops a framework for examining the role of multiple forms of wealth in achieving sustainable rural economic development. The book systematically investigates the role of different forms of capital –physical, financial, human, natural, social, and others- in rural community development. It also analyzes the impact of different development strategies on rural wealth creation. The strategies discussed in the book include the natural-resource-based strategies (such as renewable energy production), amenity-based strategies (such as land conservation and tourism), and knowledge-based strategies (such as promoting small business entrepreneurship and attracting the creative class). The book is relevant for policy makes looking at rural community development and sustainable economic development. Researchers in Idaho and Oregon are investigating the role of income and wealth inequality on economic resilience and will explore the role of income inequality in community economic resilience. The research team will first develop measures of inequality in the distribution of various forms of capital and then examine the links between income inequality and county level resilience. To our knowledge, there have been no previous studies of the links between inequality and community economic resilience. Researchers in Oregon are investigating economic resilience in relation to natural disasters. In order to guide investments in pre-disaster preparedness and plan for post-disaster recovery, we developed an integrated engineering-economic vulnerability assessment tool that can more accurately assess both the direct and indirect economic impact of tsunami. Many coastal Oregon communities are at risk of significant devastation and loss of life from a major Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and the resulting tsunami. Compared to the existing studies, this project is the first to integrate high-resolution engineering model with impact assessment models in regional economics. It simulates the indirect damages due to economic interactions. This is a critical but missing piece of information for the assessment of overall economic resilience against natural disasters like tsunamis. Local stakeholders like the Board members of the Columbia Pacific Economic Development have a better understanding of the vulnerability of their local economies to this catastrophic event. They understand that the firm employing the most people in the region, while not in the inundation zone itself, sources inputs and services from firms within the inundation zone. This new awareness of the economic inter-connections in the region brings a new perspective to local decision making with regard to siting new firms; and affects for the first time, consideration of the location (relative to the inundation zone) of the sources of inputs to production. This project benefits the local public by providing more accurate information on the probability of property damage. Knowledge of the distribution of economic damage across sectors can help local policy makers to see the vulnerability of the economic sectors. Researchers in Ohio, Tennessee, Idaho, and Oregon are investigating the role of natural resource and energy policy on economic resilience. We also conducted research about the impact of Northwest Forest Plan on the economic development of Oregon rural communities. Our empirical evidence suggests that this policy has promoted faster wealth creation in communities close to the protected land. It also suggests that the policy has redistributed the economic benefits from the timber-dependent communities to a broader set of communities adjacent to the protected forests under Northwest Forest Plan. These findings are relevant to policy makers concerning about the sustainability of rural communities and local public looking for growth opportunities. Researchers in Ohio and Missouri are investigating the role of state and local governments in economic resilience. Their work is assessing how state and local government development economic development policy and whether these policies are effective in creating jobs, reducing poverty, increasing incomes for middle class families, and in promoting sustainable development. Likewise, their activities are assessing how land use activities contribute to sprawl, carbon emissions and in turn climate change. The activities have also examined the migration of high-skilled workers that underlie long-term sustainable economic growth. A spin-off of this work is to develop practical ways to generate long-term economic growth at the local and regional scale through improved land use planning and long term government policymaking that focuses on building a sustained future of efficient government, building high human capital, enhancing the local network of entrepreneurship, promoting innovation, and providing a high quality of life, that among other things, protect the environment and natural resources. Finally, their work has examined the implications of the interdependence of regional economic growth and ecosystem services for regional sustainability and for policies that seek to balance resource efficiency with community resilience. Researchers in Nebraska are investigating policy designs to improve performance of conservation programs Researchers in Oklahoma and North Carolina have investigated the role of rural broadband on regional economic employment and income and farm income. The findings indicate that adoption but not availability influences regional economic development and that USDA broadband loans under both the pilot and the current programs is positively associated with a larger fraction of farms using high-speed internet, but only in rural counties adjacent to metro counties. It was also found that counties that have received USDA broadband loans have enjoyed 11.2 to 17.3 percent greater farm revenues after loan receipt, while in these same recipient counties total farm expenditures have increased by 6.6 to 9.6 percent. In combination, these results suggest that the Broadband Loan Program has, on average, been associated with a 4.6 to 7.7 percent increase in farm profits in recipient counties vis-à-vis non-recipient counties. Researcher in Maine conducted Retail Trade Area Analyses for rural Maine communities. These studies educate economic development professionals and other stakeholders about the health of the local retail sector. Researchers also analyzed aspects of microenterprises and local economic impacts of the Great Recession, which provides useful information on the factors contributing to the resilience of regional economies. Researchers in Minnesota have been studying child care decisions of parents in Minnesota with a focus on families with low incomes who use the child care subsidy program to help pay for child care. In this period we completed a study of factors predicting changes in child care arrangements by low-income families in Minnesota.

Publications

Peer-reviewed Publications: 1. Amiel, Lindsay, Steven Deller, Judith I. Stallmann, Craig Maher. “Does the Restrictiveness of State Tax and Expenditure Limitations Affect State Revenues and Expenditures?” International Journal of Public Administration. 37(4): 237-248, 2014. DOI: 10.1080/01900692.2013.812113 2. Hill, R., J. Loomis, D. Thilmany and M. Sullins. 2014. Economic values of agritourism to visitors: a multi-destination hurdle travel cost model of demand. Tourism Economics. Vol.20:5, October. 1047-1065. 3. Hardesty, S., G. Feenstra, D. Visher, T. Lerman, D. Thilmany McFadden, A. Bauman, T. Gillpatrick, and G. Nurse-Rainbolt. 2014. Values-based Supply Chains: Supporting Regional Food and Farms. Economic Development Quarterly. 28(February) 17-27. 4. Lim, Siew Hoon. 2014. Accounting for Environmental Pollution in Production Function. Management of Environmental Quality 25(6): 679-695. 5. Partridge, Mark D. (2014) “Is Poverty Worth Fighting Wars Over?” Choices. (29) Available at: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/choices-magazine/theme-articles/food-and-poverty/is-poverty-worth-fighting-wars-over. 6. Fallah, Belal, Mark D. Partridge, and Dan S. Rickman. (2014) “Geography and High-Tech Employment Growth in U.S. Counties.” Journal of Economic Geography. (14): 683-720. doi: 10.1093/jeg/lbt030. 7. Irwin, Elena G., P. Wilner Jeanty, and Mark D. Partridge. (2014) “Amenity Values versus Land Constraints: The Spatial Spillovers of Natural Landscape Features on Housing Values.” Land Economics. 90: 61-78. 8. Olfert, M. Rose, Mark D. Partridge, Julio Berdegué, Javier Escobal, Benjamin Jara, and Felix Modrego. (2014) “Places for Place-Based Policies” Development Policy Review. 32: 5-32. 9. Stephens, Heather, Mark D. Partridge, and Alessandra Faggian. (2013) “Innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in lagging regions.” Journal of Regional Science. 53: 778-812. 10. Faggian A., Corcoran J. and Rowe F. (2015), “Evaluating the effects of federal policy changes on human capital: The role of a graduate visa scheme”, Environment and Planning, in print 11. Faggian A. and Franklin R. (2014), “Human Capital Redistribution in the USA: The Migration of the College-bound”, Spatial Economic Analysis, Vol 9, No. 4, pp. 376-395, DOI: 10.1080/ 17421772.2014.961536 12. Jewell S. and Faggian A. (forthcoming), "The impact of working while studying on educational and labour market outcomes", Business and Economics Journal 13. Mameli F., Faggian A. and McCann P. (2014), “The Estimation of Local Employment Growth: Do Sectoral Aggregation and Industry Definition Matter?” Regional Studies, Vol. 48. No. 11, p. 1813-1828 14. Faggian A., Comunian C. and Li Q.C. (2014), “Interregional migration of human creative capital: the strange case of "Bohemian graduates"”, Geoforum, Vol. 55, pp. 33-42 15. Franklin R. and Faggian A. (forthcoming), “College Student Migration in New England: Who Comes, Who Goes, and Why We Might Care”, The Northeastern Geographer 16. Comunian R. and Faggian A. (2014), “Creative Graduates and Creative Cities: Exploring the Geography of Creative Education in the UK”, International Journal of Cultural and Creative Industries, Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 18-34 17. Comunian R. and Faggian A. (2014), “Guest editorial: higher education, human capital and the creative economy”, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32(3), pp. 381-383 18. Comunian R., Faggian A. and Jewell S. (2014), “Embedding Arts and Humanities in the Creative Economy: the role of graduates in the UK”, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 32(3), pp. 426-450 19. Comunian C., Faggian A. and Jewell S. (forthcoming),, “Digital technology and the creative industries: the role of human capital”, The Journal of Education and Work 20. Skidmore, M. L., & Toya, H. (2014). Replication of economic development and the impacts of natural disasters, economics letters. Public Finance Review, 43(2). 21. Skidmore, M. L., Anderson, G. R., & Eiswerth, M. (2014). The child adoption marketplace: Parental preferences and adoption outcomes. Public Finance Review. 22. Sands, G., & Skidmore, M. L. (2014). Making ends meet: Options for property tax reform in Detroit. Journal of Urban Affairs, 36(4), 682-700. doi:10.1111/juaf.12069 ISSN: 07352166 23. Skidmore, M. L. (2014). Will a Greenbelt Help to Shrink Detroit's Wasteland. Land Lines, 8-17. Available from: www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/2467_Will-a-Greenbelt-Help-to-Shrink-Detroit-s-Wasteland- 24. Skidmore, M. L., & Toya, H. (2014). Do natural disasters enhance societal trust? Kyklos, 67 (2), 227-254. 25. Reese, L. A., Sands, G., & Skidmore, M. L. (2014). Memo from Motown: Is austerity here to stay? Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 7(1), 99-118. doi:10.1093/cjres/rst037 ISSN: 17521378 26. James, A., Hodge, T., Sands, G., & Skidmore, M. L. (2014). Detroit property tax delinquency-social contract in crisis. Public Finance and Management, 14 (3), 280-305. 27. Poston, Ashley and Brian Whitacre (senior authorship shared). 2014. “How Specialized is ‘Too’ Specialized? Outmigration and Industry Diversification in Nonmetropolitan Counties across America.” The Journal of Economics 40(2): 37-63. Link 28. Whitacre, Brian, Roberto Gallardo, and Sharon Strover. 2014. “Broadband’s Contribution to Economic Growth in Rural Areas: Moving towards a Causal Relationship.” Telecommunications Policy 38(11): 1011-1023. Link 29. Whitacre, Brian, Roberto Gallardo, and Sharon Strover. 2014. “Does Rural Broadband Impact Jobs and Income? Evidence from Spatial and First-Differenced Regressions.” The Annals of Regional Science 53(3): 649-670. Link 30. Whitacre, Brian, Terry Griffin, and Tyler Mark. 2014. “How Connected are Our Farms?” Choices 29(3). Link 31. Janeski, I. and B. Whitacre. 2014. “Long-term Economic Impacts of USDA Water and Sewer Investments in Oklahoma.” Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 46(1): 21-39. Link 32. Whitacre, Brian and Lara Brooks. 2014. “Do Broadband Adoption Rates Impact a Community’s Health?” Behaviour & Information Technology 33(7): 767-779. Link 33. Peek, Gina G., Larry D. Sanders, Dave Shideler, Shannon L. Ferrell, Chad J. Penn, Todd Halihan. In Press. “Framing a Public Issue for Extension: Challenges in Oil and Gas Activity.” Journal of Extension. 34. Peek, Gina, Chad Penn, Larry Sanders, Dave Shideler and Shannon Ferrell. “The Oil and Gas Boom: Basic Information About Oil and Gas Activities for Extension Professionals.” In Press. Journal of Extension. 35. Whitacre, Brian E., Dave Shideler and Randi Williams. In press. “Do Incentives Programs Cause Growth? The Case of The Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program and Community-level Economic Growth.” Economic Development Quarterly. 36. Shideler, David and John Mann. 2015. “Developing a Composite Entrepreneurship Indicator as a Measure of Schumpeterian Activity.” Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, 4(1). 37. Kirk, Dylan, Kevin Allen and David Shideler. 2014. “Economic Activity Analyses: The Need for Consensus.” Journal of Extension, June. 38. Wojan, T.R., J.P. Brown, and D.M. Lambert. 2014. What to Do About the “Cult of Statistical Significance?”: An Ex-post evaluation of Ethanol Bio-Refinery Employment Impacts using the Neyman-Pearson Protocol. Applied Economics and Perspectives and Policy, 36(4): 674-695 doi:10.1093/aepp/ppu013. 39. Gabe, Todd and Nicholas Lisac. “A Note on the Effects of Popular Music Concerts on Hospitality Sales: The Case of Waterfront Concerts in Bangor, Maine.” Review of Regional Studies, Vol. 44, No. 1, 2014. 40. Davis, E., Caroline S. Carlin, Caroline Krafft and Kathryn Tout. 2014. “Time for a Change? Predictors of Child Care Changes by Low-Income Families.” Journal of Children and Poverty 20(1):21-46. 41. Kalambokidis, Laura. “Creating Public Value with Tax and Spending Policies: The View from Public Economics.” Public Administration Review 74, 4 (April 2014): 519-526. 42. Poudel, Krishna K., and Thomas G. Johnson. 2014. “Social Capital and Collective Management of Natural Resources in Nepal: A Case Study of Community Forestry.” Agrarian Frontiers. 2(1):21-34. 43. Altman, Ira, Zuoming Liu and Thomas G. Johnson. 2014. “The Feasibility of Co-Firing Biomass for Electricity in Missouri.” Biomass and Bioenergy. 69:12-20. 44. Johnson, Thomas G. 2014. “Wealth Creation and the Normative Structures Framework.” The Journal of Rural and Community Development. 9(4): 203-218. 45. Lewin, P., Weber, B., and Holland, D., 2013 Core-Periphery Dynamics in the Portland Oregon Region: 1982 to 2006” Annals of Regional Science (forthcoming) 46. Winfree, J. and P. Watson (2014). Substitution of Liquor Sales Across States. Applied Economic Letters 52(4):917-928 47. Watson, P., S. Cooke. D. Kay, and G. Alward (2014). A Method for Improving Economic Contribution Studies for Regional Analysis. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, forthcoming. 48. Choi, Eun-Young and Thomas G. Johnson. 2014. “Economic Impact of the Informal Childcare Sector in Kansas.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Planning. 44(1):20-35. 49. Johnson, Thomas G. and Ira Altman. 2014. “Rural Development Opportunities in the Bioeconomy.” Biomass and Bioenergy. 63 (April):341-344. Other Publications: 1. Nabhan, G., L. Lopez-Hoffman, C. Presnall, R. Knight, J. Goldstein, H. Gosnell, L. Gwen, D. Thilmany and S. Charnley 2014. “Payments for Ecosystem Services: Keeping Working Landscapes Productive and Functioning.” Chapter in Saving the Wide Open Spaces. 2. Thilmany, D., R. Hill and L. Lohr. Defining Best Practices for Economic Development Assessment and Evaluation for Food System Initiatives. Organized Workshop at the 2014 North American Regional Science Meetings. Washington, DC. November 2014. Organizer and presenter. 3. Bauman, A, B. Jablonski, B. Daniels., B. Angelo, D. Shideler, D. Thilmany and M. Taylor. An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models. Poster at the eXtension CLRFS 2014 Food Security Conference - Sept. 29-Oct. 1, Cleveland, Ohio. 4. Bauman, A., C. Goemans, J. Pritchett and D. Thilmany. Modeling transaction costs in a hydro-economic model: An agent based modeling approach. Selected Paper for the 2014 Western Agricultural Economics Association Meeting. June 2014. Colorado Springs CO 5. Chen, Y., Corcoran, P., Chen, Y., Weber, B., Cox, D. Wiebe, D. “Using an Economic-Engineering Model to Improve Estimations of both Direct and Indirect Economic Impacts”. Columbia-Pacific Economic Development District and NW Oregon Economic Alliance Meeting, 2014 6. Chen, Y., Chen, Y., Weber, B., Corcoran, P., Cox, D. Park, H. “Deriving Spatially-Explicit Industry Networks for an Improved Economic Impact Assessment”. 2014 Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Conference, Portland, Oregon, 2014. 7. Chen, Yong, YG. Chen, P. Corcoran, D. Cox, B. Weber and D. Wiebe “Assessing economic impacts of a tsunami event: using an economic-engineering model to improve estimations of both direct and indirect economic damage” Presentation to the Board of the Columbia Pacific Economic Development District. Scappoose Fire Hall, Scappoose, OR January 9, 2014. 8. Oregon Sea Grant National Site Review Panel on research and engagement in natural hazards, September, 2014. Number of attendees was around 20. 9. Chen, Yong, YG. Chen, P. Corcoran, D. Cox, B. Weber and D. Wiebe “Researching the impact of a tsunami on the Clatsop County economy—an Oregon Sea Grant research project.” Presentation to the Clatsop County Emergency Preparedness (EPREP) Committee. Oregon National Guard Camp Rilea, Warrenton, OR. December 17, 2013 10. Pender, John L, Bruce A. Weber, Thomas G. Johnson and J. Matthew Fannin, editors. Rural Wealth Creation. London and New York: Routledge. 2014 11. Chen, Yong and Bruce A. Weber, “Natural capital and rural wealth creation: a case study of Federal forest policy and community vitality in the Pacific Northwest” Chapter 12 in Pender, John L, Bruce A. Weber, Thomas G. Johnson and J. Matthew Fannin, editors. Rural Wealth Creation. London and New York: Routledge. 2014. 12. Pender, John L. Thomas G. Johnson, Bruce A. Weber and J. Matthew Fannin, “Rural wealth creation: introduction and overview” Chapter 1 in Pender, John L, Bruce A. Weber, Thomas G. Johnson and J. Matthew Fannin, editors. Rural Wealth Creation. London and New York: Routledge. 2014. 13. Pender, John L., Bruce A, Weber, Thomas G. Johnson, and J. Matthew Fannin. “Rural wealth creation: conclusions and implications” Chapter 18 in Pender, John L, Bruce A. Weber, Thomas G. Johnson and J. Matthew Fannin, editors. Rural Wealth Creation. London and New York: Routledge. 2014. 14. Helmut Haberl, Cheikh Mbow, Xiangzheng Deng, Elena G. Irwin, Suzi Kerr, Tobias Kuemmerle, Ole Mertz, Patrick Meyfroidt, and B.L. Turner II I. (2014). “Finite Land Resources and Competition.” In Karen Seto and Annette Reenberg (eds.) Rethinking Global Land Use in an Urban Era, Ernst Strüngmann Forum Report. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 35-69. 15. Irwin, Elena G. and Douglas Wrenn. (2014). “An Assessment of Empirical Methods for Modeling Land Use." Chapter 13 in J.M. Duke and J. Wu (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 327-351. 16. Partridge, Mark D. and Dan S. Rickman. (2014) “Integrating Regional Economic Development Analysis and Land Use Economics.” Chapter One Book Chapter for (Eds, Joshua M. Duke and JunJie Wu) The Oxford Handbook of Land Economics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 23-51. 17. Partridge, Mark D. and Amanda Weinstein. (2014) “Green Jobs and the Need to Use Benefit-Cost Analysis not Employment in Policymaking.” Encyclopedia of Environmental Economics. (eds. T. Haab and J. Whitehead). 18. Weinstein, Amanda and Mark D. Partridge. (2014) “Economic implications of unconventional fossil fuel production.” Book Chapter for (Ed. Don Albrecht) Our Energy Future, Socioeconomic Implications and Policy Options for Rural America. New York: Routledge. Pp. 19-39. 19. Faggian, A., Corcoran J. and Partridge M. (2014) “Interregional Migration Analysis.” Karlsson C., Andersson M. and Norman T. (eds.), Handbook in the Research of Methods and Applications in Economic Geography, in press 20. Faggian A. “Job Search Theory” (2014), Fischer M. and Nijkamp P. (eds.), Handbook of Regional Science, Springer, pp. 59-73 21. Comunian R., Faggian A. and Jewell S. (2014) “Exploring music careers: music graduates and early career trajectories in UK” in Crossley N., McAndrew S. and Widdop P. (eds.) Social Networks and Music Worlds – Routledge Advances in Sociology, Routledge, London, UK 22. Jewell S. and Faggian A. (2014) “Interregional Migration Wage Premia: the Case of Creative and STEM Graduates in the UK” in Kourtit K., Nijkamp P. and Stimson R. (eds.) Applied Regional Growth and Innovation Models, Springer, pp. 197-214 23. Cho, Clare and Mark D. Partridge. “The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Its Effect on Food Insecurity.” Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy Summary Report, Available at: http://aede.osu.edu/sites/aede/files/publication_files/SNAP.pdf, May 2014. 24. Cho, Clare and Mark Partridge. “The Affordable Care Act: Effects of the Healthcare Reform.” Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy Summary Report, December 2013. Available at: www.aede.osu.edu/programs/Swank. 24 pages. 25. Partridge, Mark and Amanda Weinstein. “Economic Implications of Unconventional Fossil Fuel Production.” National Agricultural and Rural Development Policy Center (NARDEP) Policy Brief. November 2013. Available at: <http://www.nardep.info/> 4 pages. 26. Zhang, Wendong, Barry Ward and Elena G. Irwin. “Trends and Determinants of Farmland Sale Prices in Western Ohio 2001 – 2010.” Technical Bulletin, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, 37 pages. 27. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "Rural Development: Title VI", U.S. Department of Agriculture, http://www.ers.usda.gov/agricultural-act-of-2014-highlights-and-implications/rural-development.aspx. 28. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "The Rise of Rural Wireless Broadband Internet Services", paper presented at “The Future of Broadband Regulation” PSU/IIP Workshop, Washington, DC 29. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "Rural Broadband Investment over the Last Decade", presentation at NARSC Annual Meeting, November 13-15, 2014, Washington, DC. 30. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "Broadband Internet in Rural Hispanic Households", Presented at the NARSC meetings, November 13-15, Washington, DC. 31. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "The Farm Bill and Rural Economies: Broadband Investment Over the last Decade", paper presented at AAEA Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN. 32. Stenberg, Peter (2014). "Research on the Rural Economic Effect of Broadband Internet", presentation as part of panel discussion, TPRC meetings, Arlington, VA. 33. Skidmore, M. L. (2014). Housing affordability: Lessons from the United States. (Working Paper 14/11). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Department of Treasury. 34. Skidmore, M. L., & Hodge, T. (2014). Barry County financial analysis and forecast report. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Extension. 35. Skidmore, M. L., Filion, P., & Sands, G. (Eds.). (n.d.). Cities at risk: Planning for and recovering from natural and human disasters: Ashgate Press. 36. Jeremiah Taylor and Brian Whitacre. “Oklahoma’s Recovery from the Great Recession: Trends in Rural vs. Urban Areas.” Oklahoma State University Extension Fact Sheet AGEC-1051. September 2014. 4 pp. 37. Lara Brooks, Grant Irby, Brian Whitacre, and Corie Kaiser. “How Are Rural Residents Informed about Local Community Events?” Oklahoma State University Extension Fact Sheet AGEC-1052. September 2014. 4 pp. 38. Jorge Atiles, Sissy Osteen, Gina Peek, Dave Shideler, and Brian Whitacre. “Exploring the Potential Effectiveness of a State Low Income Housing Tax Credit in Oklahoma.” Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service Report. March 2014. 12 pp 39. Bauman, Allie, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany, Merritt Taylor, and Blake Angelo. 2014. “An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models.” Community, Local and Regional Food Systems Community of Practice Resource. Available at: http://www.extension.org/pages/70544/an-evolving-classification-scheme-of-local-food-business-models 40. Daniels, Brannon (presenter), Dave Shideler, Becca Jablonski and Dawn Thilmany. “Growth Challenges for Food Hubs: Building a Research Agenda.” Food Distribution Research Society Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, November 1-4, 2014. 41. Gina Peek (presenter), Jorge Atiles, Sissy Osteen, Dave Shideler, and Brian Whitacre. “Exploring the effectiveness of a state level Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC).” Selected paper presented at the Housing Education and Research Association Annual Conference. Kansas City, MO. Oct. 5-8, 2014. 42. Tyler Mark (presenter), Terry Griffin, and Brian Whitacre. “Value of Connectivity in Rural Areas: The Case of Precision Agriculture Data.” Selected paper presented at the International Conference on Precision Agriculture, Sacramento, CA. July 20-23, 2014. 43. Randi Williams (presenter) and Brian Whitacre. “The Influence of Broadband Availability on Physician Electronic Medical Record Adoption in Oklahoma.” Selected paper presented at the Southern Regional Science Association meetings, San Antonio, TX. March 27-29, 2014. 44. Shideler, Dave (presenter), Tracy Boyer and Jody Campiche. “Climate Variability and Socio-Economic Behavior: What Can We Learn from CHANS?” Southern Regional Science Association, San Antonio, TX, March 27-29, 2014. 45. Bauman, Allie, Becca B. R. Jablonski, Brannon Daniels, Blake Angelo, Dave Shideler, Dawn Thilmany and Merritt Taylor. “An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models.” Presented at Community, Local and Regional Food Systems eXtension Community of Practice Annual Conference, Cleveland, OH. September 29 – October 1, 2014. 46. Brian Whitacre, Sharon Strover, and Roberto Gallardo. “How Much Does Broadband Infrastructure Matter? Decomposing the Metro – Non-Metro Adoption Gap with the Help of the National Broadband Map” Poster presentation for the Telecommunication Policy Research Conference, Arlington, VA. September 12-14, 2014. 47. Lara Brooks, Brian Whitacre, and Corie Kaiser. “Physician EMR Adoption in Oklahoma: Does Location Matter?” Poster presentation for the National Rural Health Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada. April 22-23, 2014. 48. Lara Brooks, Dave Shideler, Brian Whitacre, Notie Lansford, Gerald Doeksen. “Rural Development: 100 Years of Improving Rural Oklahomans’ Quality of Life.” Poster presentation for the OCES Annual Conference, Stillwater, Oklahoma. Jan 22-24, 2014. 49. Gabe, Todd. “Growth of Maple Syrup and Related Products in Maine,” School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 615, June 2014. 50. Gabe, Todd. “Economic Impacts of Maine’s Maple Industry,” School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 614, February 2014. 51. McConnon, James C., Thomas G. Allen, and Todd Gabe. 2013. “Trade Area Analysis of Retail Sales for Lamoine, Maine.” School of Economics Staff Paper No. 611, The University of Maine, Orono, Maine 36pp. 52. McConnon, James C. and Wanda L. Lincoln. 2014. “Senior Companion Program: A Benefit to Seniors, Families, and the State of Maine.” University of Maine Cooperative Extension fact sheet. The University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 2pp. 53. Bassano, Louis, V. and James C. McConnon, Jr. 2014. “Hancock County Business Conference and Trade Show: Making a Difference in Maine.” University of Maine Cooperative Extension fact sheet. The University of Maine, Orono, Maine. 2pp. 54. Kalambokidis, Laura, Lisa Hinz, and Scott Chazdon. “Using Economic Principles to Show How Extension Programs Create Public Value.” Forthcoming in Creating Public Value in Practice, ed. Bryson, John, and Barbara Crosby, CRC Press/Taylor&Francis, 2014. 55. Kelrick, Pamela, Thomas G. Johnson, and Judith I. Stallmann. 2014. Territorial Cohesion: US and Canadian Perspectives on the Concept, Chapter 5 in Territorial Cohesion in Rural Europe: The Relational Turn in Rural Development. Andrew Copus and Philomena de Lima (eds.). Regional Studies Association Series Regions and Cities, No. 76. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. 56. Neus Raines and Thomas G. Johnson. 2014. Regional Wealth Effects of Local Foods. Community Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri, Columbia. October 5. 57. Johnson, Thomas G. and Jinhyoung Kim. 2014. Toward an Approach to Measure Wealth Impacts of Resource Development: The Shale Oil Boom in North Dakota. Community Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri, Columbia. December 26. 58. Johnson, Thomas G. 2014 Improving Measures of People-Based and Place-Based Wealth: An Extended Social Accounting Matrix Approach: Final Report, Community Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri, Columbia. December 26. 59. Johnson, Thomas G. 2014. "Rethinking the Value of Rural" Invited presentation at Rural Works: A Rural Policy Think Tank Event. Brandon, Manitoba, November 6. 60. Johnson, Thomas G. 2014. "Trends in Wealth Distribution and Implications for Rural Policy" invited presentation at the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation Annual meeting, Prince George, BC, September 27. 61. Hendrickson, Mary, Randy Cantrell, Thomas G. Johnson, Jessica R. Scott and M. Saulters. 2014. "Why Local Food Makes You Happy: The Penetration Of The Local Food Narrative In The Midwest," Rural Sociological Society annual meeting, New Orleans, LA. August. 62. Johnson, Thomas G. 2014. “Social Norms and Wealth Creation.” Paper Presented at the Southern Regional Science Association meetings, San Antonio, TX March 29. 63. Guatam, Shriniwas, Timothy Haithcoat and Thomas G. Johnson. 2014. “Analyzing Missouri's Digital Divide Using Alternative Measures of Internet Service Provision.” Paper Presented at the Southern Regional Science Association meetings, San Antonio, TX March 28. 64. Rossi, James, Thomas Johnson, Mary Hendrickson, and Jess Scott. 2014. “The Economic Impacts of Local Food Production and Sales.” Paper Presented at the Southern Regional Science Association meetings, San Antonio, TX March 27. 65. Maher, Craig, Judith I. Stallmann, Steven C. Deller and Lindsay Amiel. “The Effects of TEL’s on State Fiscal Slack. Association for Budgeting and Financial Management. Grand Rapids, Michigan. October 2-4, 2014. 66. Wulfhorst, J. P. Salant, L. Bernacchi, S. Kane, and P. Watson. “Hispanic Immigration, Global Competition, and the Dairy Industry in Rural Communities” Decennial Volume of the Rural Sociology Society. In press.

Impact Statements

NE1049 Researchers are leading a national effort to develop a toolkit to guide and enhance the capacity of local organizations to make more credible measurements of local and small-scale economic activity and other ancillary benefits with several team members from this NE1049. Using examples from our own work and feedback from a variety of stake holders, this toolkit will guide and standardize future studies.
Researchers found that while local food producers are able to retain a smaller proportion of the consumer?s food dollar when they buy locally produced food, compared to conventional agriculture, they impact on the local economy is larger because they use more local labor and purchase more inputs locally. They also found evidence that local and regional food systems increase the level of local social capital.
Researchers have developed and implemented benchmark levels for economic activity and local expenditure patterns as a way to provide some ranges of common food system initiatives within the new economic contribution framework developed above.
Researchers are exploring the role of agritourism on rural communities and agricultural enterprises in the Western US. Using a producer survey and survey of visitors, we hope to ascertain current activity (to augment what was reported in the 2012 Ag Census), opportunities for growth and potential barriers to further development.
Research findings from NE1049 researchers has been featured in many popular outlets.
Researchers have developed a web-based local government fiscal data management system that enables local government officials to submit their required financial data to the Michigan Department of Treasury using the online system.
Researchers have advised Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Council of Economic Advisers, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organization, USDA-Rural Utility Service (RUS), the USDC-National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and other government agencies in their policy development, review, and implementation. In addition, we were interviewed by a number of news organizations.
The work of NE-1049 researchers has resulted in over $1 million in grant funding in 2014 to support the research objectives of the group.
Over 30 graduate students have been supported through the research associated with NE-1049 researchers.

Date of Annual Report: 05/30/2016

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 03/31/2016 - 04/02/2016
Period the Report Covers: 04/01/2015 - 03/31/2016

Participants

Thilmarry, Dawn - Colorado State Univ.

Renkow, Mitch - North Carolina State Univ.

Betz, Mike - Ohio State Univ.

Shideler, Dave - Oklahoma State Univ.

Chen, Yong - Oregon State Univ.

Weber, Bruce - Oregon State Univ.

Goetz, Stephan - PennState/NERCRD

Fagan, Julie - Rutgers Univ.

Watson, Phil - Univ. of Idaho

Crandall, Mindy - Univ. of Maine

Stallmann, Judy - Univ. of Missouri

Halstead, John - Univ. of New Hampshire

Deller, Steve - Univ. of Wisconsin

Conroy, Tessa - Univ. of Wisconsin

Stenberg, Peter - USDA/ERS

Brief Summary of Minutes

Minutes Attachment:

2016NE1049Minutes.pdf

Accomplishments

Annual Accomplishment Highlights: In 2015, researcher of NE-1049 has made steady progress in the two primary research areas: local/regional foods and Community Resilience and Natural/Human-Made Disasters. Objective 1 - Local / Regional Foods: The team of researchers associated with NE-1049 are conducting various researches analyzing the local/regional food systems from different perspectives. Researchers in Colorado evaluate the role of small and mid-size farms and their impacts in local and regional food systems, as well as the rural economic impacts of local food systems. Collaborating researchers in University of California at Davis and University of Northern Colorado, they are exploring an integrated approach to agritourism development in the western US. Researchers in New Hampshire are awarded a new project from NIFA to assess the potential for local food production and the constraints faced by suppliers of produce grown in northern New England, Main, New Hampshire and Vermont. They are in the process of identifying local produce with the highest probability of profitable production, and examining consumer preferences for local produce and the premium these products command. Researchers in Idaho investigates the local food system by examining the role of intermediaries in the food system. They are currently conducting a survey on restaurants and stores in order to examining the role of intermediaries in local food system. Researchers in Oregon and Missouri examined how state policy shapes food stamp participation rates. Using unique detailed administrative data for the 2003-2010 period, they find that while the recession led to increased need and SNAP participation in both states, state differences in pre-recession program policies and efforts to enroll and retain eligible participants provide a plausible explanation for lower exit rates and longer spell durations in Oregon. The project highlights how decisions made by state lawmakers and agencies directly influence the lives of low-income people in various states. These are not economic forces at work, but are instead decisions by state actors who undoubtedly interpret the goals and meaning of these programs very differently from party to party, state to state. Researchers in North Carolina investigated the impact of USDA Broadband Loan Programs on the agricultural industry using county-level data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The analysis confirms that these programs have indeed benefitted the agricultural sector: (1) Receipt of USDA broadband loans is positively associated with a larger fraction of farms using high-speed internet, but only in rural counties adjacent to metro counties. (2) Compared to non-recipient counties, counties that received USDA broadband loans have enjoyed 11.2 to 17.3 percent greater farm revenues, 6.6 to 9.6 percent greater total farm expenditures, 4.6 to 7.7 percent greater farm profits. (3) In terms of the distribution of these effects across sub-sectors, both livestock and crop sales have increased in broadband recipient counties. However, the evidence also suggests that impacts on the livestock sector have effectively disappeared with changes made between the Pilot and current programs, whereas positive impacts on crop sales have remained quite stable across both programs. (4) The benefits of the Pilot Broadband Loan program were smaller in relatively remote rural counties not adjacent to metro counties than in either metro counties or rural counties adjacent to metro counties. Researchers in Ohio investigate the importance of human capital formation, improved local economic development policymaking and efforts to promote best-case energy development from unconventional energy resources. Researchers in Pennsylvania conduct word network analysis and illustrate how Extension has framed the discussion of agriculture. They also show that Extension saved more than 100,000 farms since 1980s and around 500,000 farms over 100 years. It has helped the expansion of businesses and rural population. Researchers in Colorado acquired a Cooperative Agreement with the USDA-Ag Marketing Service to develop a toolkit to assess the Outreach, Training and Proof of Concept of USDA AMS Economic Impact Assessment. They also started to examine market channel for Colorado fruit and vegetable growers. Objective 2 – Community Resilience and Natural / Human-made Disasters: Researchers in NE-1049 actively investigating the differences in community resilience to social-economic, political and natural shocks, as well as factors contributing to such differences. Researchers in Ohio, Idaho, Oregon and Missouri investigated how community characteristics may affect its resilience. Researchers in Ohio focus the key importance of human capital, local innovation and entrepreneurship for regional development and its relationship with regional resilience and resistance. Researchers in Idaho look at the relationship between community capitals and economic resilience. Researchers in Oregon examine the relationship between income inequality and resilience. Researcher sin Missouri find that citizen co-production of infrastructure in Thailand and find that higher quality infrastructure can be produced in a timelier manner using private contractors given the organizing ability of the community. This echoes the findings by Elinor Ostrom. NE-1049 researchers in Maine, Oregon, New Jersey and Pennsylvania investigate the resilience of rural communities against local and regional shocks. The researchers in Maine look into the health of forest product industry, forest management issues and the economic trajectories of natural resource dependent communities in Maine. The researchers in Oregon look into the impact of federal forest policy change on rural income. Researchers in New Jersey investigate the community resilience by looking into the disaster preparedness. Researchers in Oregon are also conducting research on the regional income impact of natural disasters. Researchers in Pennsylvania examine economic resilience by analyzing the economic performance during the economic recession. Researchers in Missouri and Wisconsin and a colleague at the University of Nebraska-Omaha investigated the impact of tax and expenditure limitations (TELS) on government resiliency as measured in 1) state fiscal reserves and 2) state credit ratings and the structure of government. Their preliminary results suggest that formation of various types of local governments does not appear to be a way to circumvent TEL restrictions. They also find that TELs that restrict expenditures increase state government bond ratings, while those that restrict revenues decrease bond ratings. Thirdly, state TELs could be hindering state capacity to react to fiscal shocks. Finally, more restrictive TELs imposed on municipalities by the states have a weak negative impact on city credit ratings Researchers in North Carolina investigate the impact of broadband on local communities at county and zip code level. They find that broadband provision had no significant impact on county employment rate between 2008 and 2010. However, the USDA broadband loans program between 2000 and 2008 successfully disbursed loans to target locations (i.e., sparsely populated and under-served rural communities). Loan receipt led to modest, but statistically significant, increases in broadband availability as indicated by increases in number broadband service providers. Other Significant Accomplishments: Awards: <ol> <ol> <ol> <li>Dr. Steven Deller is selected as Fellow of Mid-Continent Regional Science Association. 2015.</li> <li>Dr. Alessandra Faggian receives the Geoffrey Hewings Award 2015 by the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC).</li> <li>Dr. Steven Goetz, National Academies of Sciences, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Member of the Committee on National Statistics: Rationalizing Rural Classifications for the Economic Research Service, Jan. 2015 – present.</li> <li>Best Book Award for 2015 by Regional Studies Association, United Kingdom: Territorial Cohesion in Rural Europe: The Relational Turn in Rural Development. Andrew Copus and Philomena de Lima (eds.). Regional Studies Association Series Regions and Cities, No. 76. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. Researchers in Missouri contributed a chapter: Kelrick, Pamela, Thomas G. Johnson, and Judith I. Stallmann. 2014. “Territorial Cohesion: US and Canadian Perspectives on the Concept.”</li> </ol> </ol> </ol>

Publications

The list of publications is incomplete because it is not based on station reports but based on CV’s of participants of the 2015 annual meeting that are available online. Peer-reviewed Publications: Abreu, M., Faggian A. and McCann P. 2015, “Migration and inter-industry mobility of UK graduates”, Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 15, Issue 2, pp. 353-385 (ISI 5-year Impact Factor 5.025) Betz, Michael, Mark D. Partridge and Belal Fallah. (2015, early view) “Smart Cities and Attracting Knowledge Workers: What Cities Attract Highly Educated Workers in the 21st Century?” Papers in Regional Science. DOI: 10.1111/pirs.12163. Betz, Michael, Michael Farren, Linda Lobao, and Mark D. Partridge. 2015. “Coal Mining, Economic Development, and the Natural Resources Curse.” Energy Economics. (50), 105-116. Betz, MD Partridge, M Farren, L Lobao. 2015 Coal mining, economic development, and the natural resources curse, Energy Economics 50, 105-116. Betz, MD Partridge, B Fallah. 2015. Smart cities and attracting knowledge workers: Which cities attract highly‐educated workers in the 21st century? Papers in Regional Science Biagi, B., Faggian, A. and Percoco M. 2015. “Identità territoriale e migrazioni: prime evidenze empiriche per l’Europa”, Annali del Dipartimento di Metodi e Modelli per l’Economia, il Territorio e la Finanza, Università della Sapienza di Roma, pp. 95-112 Beam, A.L., D.D. Thilmany, R.W. Pritchard, L.P. Garber, and F.J. Olea-Popelka. 2015. Economic and animal health implications of distance to slaughter, markets, and feed sources used by small-scale food animal operations in the United States. Renewable Ag and Food Systems. Chen,Y,  Bruce Weber and David Lewis. (forthcoming).  Conservation Land Amenities and Regional Economies: A Post-Matching Difference-in-Differences Analysis of the Northwest Forest Plan. Journal of Regional Science Comunian, C., Faggian A. and Jewell S. 2015, “Digital technology and the creative industries: the role of human capital”, The Journal of Education and Work, pp. 1-23., 10.1080/13639080.2014.997683. Costanigro, M., O. Deselnicu, O. and D. Thilmany. 2015. Product differentiation via corporate social responsibility: consumer priorities and the mediating role of food labels. Agriculture and Human Values. Forthcoming. Deller, Steven C. 2015. “Is Regional Science the Embodiment of the Engaged University?” Review of Regional Studies. 45(1):1-13. Deller, Steven C., Canto, Amber and Brown, Laura. 2015. “Rural Poverty, Health and Food Access.” Regional Science Policy and Practice. 7(2):61-74. Edwards, Mark, Colleen Heflin, Peter Mueser, Suzanne Porter and Bruce Weber. 2015. The Great Recession and SNAP Caseloads: A Tale of Two States. Journal of Poverty 20 (3): 261-277. Faggian, A., Corcoran J. and Rowe F. 2015, “Evaluating the effects of federal policy changes on human capital: The role of a graduate visa scheme”, Environment and Planning C (ISI 5-year Impact Factor 1.386), in print. Franklin, R. and Faggian A. 2015, “College Student Migration in New England: Who Comes, Who Goes, and Why We Might Care”, The Northeastern Geographer, in print. Goetz, S.J., M. Davlasheridze and Y. Han 2015 “County-Level Determinants of Mental Health, 2002-2008,” Social Indicators Research, doi: 10.1007/s11205-014-0792-6. Keene, Ashleigh and Deller, Steven C. 2015. “Evidence of the Environmental Kuznets’ Curve Among US Counties and the Impact of Social Capital.” International Review of Regional Science. 38(4): 358-387. Mann, John and David Shideler. 2015. “Measuring Schumpeterian activity using a composite indicator.” Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, 4(1): 57-84. Available at: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JEPP-07-2013-0029; named by the editors as “Outstanding Paper in 2015” Onozaka, Y, W. Hu and D. Thilmany. 2015. Can Eco-Labels Reduce Carbon Emissions? Market-Wide Analysis of Carbon Labeling and Locally Grown Fresh Apples. Renewable Ag and Food Systems. Partridge, Mark D., Dan S. Rickman, M. Rose Olfert, and Ying Tang. 2015 “When Spatial Equilibrium Fails: Is Place-Based Policy Second Best?” Regional Studies. (49): 1303-1325. DOI: 10.1080/00343404.2013.837999. Partridge, Mark D. Dan S. Rickman, M. Rose Olfert, and Ying Tang. 2015 “U.S. Regional Poverty Post-2000: The Lost Decade.” Economic Development Quarterly. (29): 38-48. Peek, Gina G., Larry D. Sanders, Dave Shideler, Shannon L. Ferrell, Chad J. Penn, Todd Halihan. “Framing a Public Issue for Extension: Challenges in Oil and Gas Activity.” Journal of Extension, 53(5: October).Rupasingha, Anil, Yongzheng Liu, and Mark D. Partridge. (2015) “Rural Bound: Determinants of Metro to Non-Metro Migration in the U.S.” American Journal of Agriculture Economics, 97: 680-700. DOI: 10.1093/ajae/aau113. Stephens, Heather and Mark D. Partridge. (2015) “Lake Amenities, Environmental Degradation, and Great Lakes Regional Growth.” International Regional Science Review. (31): 61-91. Thilmany, D. 2015. The Role of Economics in Multifunctional Food Supply Chains. Invited Paper to the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Thilmany McFadden, D. 2015. What Do We Mean by “Local Foods”? CHOICES. Winkler, Richelle, Deller, Steven C. and Marcouiller, David W. 2015. “Recreational Housing and Community Development: A Triple Bottom Line Approach.” Growth and Change. 46(3):481-500. Watson, P., S Cooke, D Kay, G Alward, 2015. A Method for Improving Economic Contribution Studies for Regional Analysis, Journal of Regional Analysis & Policy 45 (1): 1-15. Winfree, JA, P Watson. 2015. Substitution of liquor sales across states, Applied Economics Letters 22 (11), 891-894 Wrenn, DH, EG Irwin. 2015. Time is money: An empirical examination of the effects of regulatory delay on residential subdivision development. Regional Science and Urban Economics 51, 25-36   Other Publications: Bauman, A., D. Thilmany, B. Jablonski, and D. Shideler. Smart Marketing: An Evolving Classification Scheme of Local Food Business Models. Cornell Food Industry Management April Smart Marketing article. April 2015. Conroy, Tessa, and Deller, Steven C. 2015. "Women Business Leaders across Wisconsin 1990-2011." Patterns of Economic Growth and Development Study Series No. 2. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin – Madison/Extension. Conroy, Tessa, and Deller, Steven C. 2015. “Where are Wisconsin’s Business Leaders?” Patterns of Economic Growth and Development Policy Brief Series No. 2. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin – Madison/Extension. Deller, Steven, Judith I Stallmann and Craig Maher.  “The Impact of Tax and Expenditure Limits on Moody’s Credit Ratings for Cities.”  Southern Regional Science Association, Mobile, Alabama.  March 27-19, 2015. Halstead, John and Deller, Steven C. (eds). 2015. Social Capital at the Community Level: An Applied Interdisciplinary Perspective. London: Routledge Publishing. Markeson, Bjorn, and Deller, Steven C. (2015). "Social Capital, Communities, and the Firm." In Halstead, John and Deller, Steven C. (eds). Social Capital at the Community Level: An Applied Interdisciplinary Perspective. London: Routledge Publishing. Halstead, John M., and Steven C. Deller. (2015). "Social Capital and Community Development." In Halstead, John and Deller, Steven C. (eds). Social Capital at the Community Level: An Applied Interdisciplinary Perspective. London: Routledge Publishing. Halstead, John M., and Steven C. Deller. (2015). "What Do We Know? And Where Do We Go From Here?" In Halstead, John and Deller, Steven C. (eds). Social Capital at the Community Level: An Applied Interdisciplinary Perspective. London: Routledge Publishing. Lewin, Paul; and Brown, Anna. 2015. Measuring United States County-Level Economic Resilience to a Recession. In Agricultural & Applied Economics Association Annual Conference. San Francisco, CA Lewin, Paul; and Brown, Anna. 2015. Economic Resilience. In The Water-Food-Energy-Climate Nexus: An Emerging Challenge for Rural Policy sponsored by the International Comparative Rural Policy Studies (ICRPS) Consortium, the Rural Policy Research Institute and the Rural Policy Learning Commons. Memphis, TN Lowatcharin, Grichawat and Judith I. Stallmann.  "Missouri State and Local Spending:  A Fifty-state Comparison for 2012."  Missouri Extension, MP760. September, 2015.  http://extension.missouri.edu/p/mp760 Lowatcharin, Grichawat and Judith I. Stallmann.  "Missouri State and Local Taxes and Revenues: A Fifty-state Comparison for 2012."  Missouri Extension, MP761.  September 2015.   http://extension.missouri.edu/p/mp761 Maher, Craig Judith I Stallmann and Steven Deller.  “The Effects of TELs on State Fiscal Reserves.”  Western Social Science Association Annual Conference.   Portland, Oregon.  April 8-11, 2015.  Peek, Gina, Chad Penn, Larry Sanders, Dave Shideler and Shannon Ferrell. “The Oil and Gas Boom: Basic Information about Oil and Gas Activities for Extension Professionals.” 2015. Journal of Extension, 53(3: June). Available at: http://www.joe.org/joe/2015june/tt3.php Stallmann, Judith I., Steven C. Deller and Craig S. Maher.  “Tax and Expenditure Limitations and Local Government Structure.”  North American Regional Science Association, Portland, Oregon.  November 12-14, 2015. Stallmann, Judith I., Steven Deller, Craig Maher and Lindsay Amiel.  “State Credit Ratings and Tax and Expenditure Limitations.”  Truman School of Public Affairs seminar, University of Missouri-Columbia.   March 13, 2015. Lowatcharin, Grichawat and Judith I. Stallmann.  "Missouri State and Local Spending:  A Fifty-state Comparison for 2012."  Missouri Extension, MP760. September, 2015.  http://extension.missouri.edu/p/mp760 Lowatcharin, Grichawat and Judith I. Stallmann.  "Missouri State and Local Taxes and Revenues: A Fifty-state Comparison for 2012."  Missouri Extension, MP761.  September 2015.   http://extension.missouri.edu/p/mp761 Thilmany McFadden, D., W. Peters Moschetti and the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council. COFSAC 15-01. Preparing for Food Security in an Age of Limited Natural Resources Part I: Water. CSU DARE Food Systems Issue Brief. August 2015. Thilmany McFadden, D., W. Peters Moschetti and the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council. COFSAC 15-02. Preparing for Food Security in an Age of Limited Natural Resources Part II: Land Use. CSU DARE Food Systems Issue Brief. August 2015 Thilmany McFadden, D., W. Peters Moschetti and the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council. COFSAC 15-03. Preparing for Food Security in an Age of Limited Natural Resources Part III: Energy. CSU DARE Food Systems Issue Brief. June 2015. Thilmany McFadden, D., W. Peters Moschetti and the Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council. COFSAC 15-04. Barriers & Opportunities for Healthy Food Recovery from Grocery Retail to Hunger Relief Organizations. CSU DARE Food Systems Issue Brief. August 2015. Thilmany McFadden, D., D. Conner, S. Deller, D. Hughes, K. Meter, A. Morales, T. Schmit, D. Swenson, A. 7 Bauman, M. Phillips Goldenberg, R. Hill, B. B.R. Jablonski and D. Tropp. 2015. The Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service Report. Forthcoming.

Impact Statements

The work of NE-1049 researchers has resulted in additional grant funding in 2015 to support the research objectives of the group and graduate students.

Date of Annual Report: 05/12/2017

Report Information

Annual Meeting Dates: 02/15/2017 - 02/15/2017
Period the Report Covers: 04/01/2016 - 03/31/2017

Participants

David Shideler, Oklahoma State University, Chair
John Halstead, University of New Hampshire, Vice Chair and Secretary
Warren Kriesel, University of Georgia
Phil Watson, University of Idaho
Dawn Thilmany, Colorado State University
Tom Harris, University of Nevada-Reno
Steve Deller, University of Wisconsin
Mark Skidmore, Michigan State University
Yong Chen, Oregon State University
Mike Betz, the Ohio State University
Jungmin Lim, Michigan State University

Brief Summary of Minutes

Meeting began at 1 p.m., MST.

1. Motion was made, seconded, and moved to approve minutes from NE 1049 2016
Meeting in Washington, DC

2. Discussion about incoming secretary/vice chair. Mike Betz of the Ohio State University
was noted as having interest. Mike later arrived at the meeting and confirmed this. He is
now the incoming vice chair/secretary and will move into the slot next year when John
Halstead Becomes Chair.

3. Dave Shideler noted that our new project director is David Leibovitz. Our Project
Advisor is Tim Phipps at West Virginia University.

4. Discussion then turned to whether the group believed we should submit NE 1049 for an
Award of Excellence. General sentiment was that we should, although someone will
need to take a leadership role. We would be able to work from the project’s termination
report, which is due 90 days after 1049’s project end date of 9/30/2017.

5. Project renewal. NE 1049 is scheduled to end this year, and we need to put together a
new project proposal. Dave Shideler has agreed to take the lead in completing our
project termination report.
A major issue brought up was that we don’t yet have an idea of what the priorities of
Secretary of Agriculture nominee Purdue (who has not yet been confirmed) will be; this
in turn will presumably drive USDA’s priorities in research and outreach, as well as the
various USDA undersecretary selections. The group agreed to ask for a one-year extension of the current project under its current goals. This request would need to go to Tim Phipps. With these issues in mind, the group discussed how we could make progress in drafting a new proposal; some of the key points/possible project foci raised follow.
 (general comment) We need to construct a template which is flexible enough to fit USDA’s priorities, then fit individual state project to project goals
 There is a proliferation of health care issues, and much uncertainty with current activity in congress, that has the potential to greatly affect rural areas
 Changes in labor availability in rural areas is a potential area for research, also related to possible federal proposals. If labor becomes more expensive, more automation may result. This can affect economic distortion, labor participation rates, economic goal setting, etc. at the community level
 How changes in federal policies/federal land management will affect income and employment/issues of transfer of ownership from federal to state government, effects on taxation at the local/state level. Other issues of public land policy, especially water policy.
 Movement away from extractive industries to retirement/tourism based economies in rural areas; opposite effect with fracking areas?
 Oil/fracking; threshold price of oil to make fracking viable; regulatory effects
 Resilience as key factor; what did we learn from last recession
 Energy in more general terms e.g. renewables, issues of regional vs. local energy storage for solar. How can rural area participate? Who wants higher oil prices?
 Solar power—interaction between weather and output; link into “traditional” energy suppliers
 Clean energy development and effects on rural counties
 Local/regional effects of renewable energy pipelines, powerlines, etc. developed. Noted that MIT has a paper on incentives for wind energy.
 Do we want to continue focus on local foods? Probably want to wait until we know USDA’s priorities. Rural entrepreneurship is a broader area of research which encompass food but also tourism/ recreation.
 Refining tools of analysis: IMPLAN, CGE—model to affect modeling efforts—agriculture and forestry models. Need production function to build region specific models.
 Set of representative counties to build REMI-CGE-COMPAS type models for general use
 Should we revisit COMPAS approach? Public open access implant? “median county” model? Like the open source modeling done by West Virginia (IO-Snap)? Should we work this into a larger NIFA grant?
 Retirement/wealth distribution issues. With the retirement of the first generation to fully embrace individual retirement accounts, there may be an intergenerational shift in wealth which didn’t occur with e.g. pensions.

6. Next year’s meeting place for NE 1049. Western Regional Science Meetings are in Pasadena, California. Southern Regional Science Association has not yet announced a location but presumably will at their upcoming annual meeting at the end of March.

7. Station Reports. A round table presentation was made by attendees on completed and ongoing research.

8. The current chair will obtain approval for next year’s meeting as well as find a room at the meeting site and prepare the annual/terminal report (depending on approval of an extension).
djourned 3:22 p.m. MST.

Minutes Attachment:

1049minutes2017.pdf

Accomplishments

Annual Accomplishment Highlights: In 2016, researchers of NE-1049 have made steady progress in the two primary research areas: local/regional foods and Community Resilience and Natural/Human-Made Disasters. Objective 1 - Local / Regional Foods: The team of researchers associated with NE-1049 are conducting various research analyzing the local/regional food systems from different perspectives. Researchers in Colorado and Oklahoma evaluate the role of small and mid-size farms and their impacts in local and regional food systems, as well as the rural economic impacts of local food systems. Researchers in Colorado also acquired a Cooperative Agreement with the USDA-Ag Marketing Service to develop a toolkit to assess the Outreach, Training and Proof of Concept of USDA AMS Economic Impact Assessment. They also started to examine market channels for Colorado fruit and vegetable growers. Additionally, the researchers in Colorado are collaborating with researchers in University of California at Davis and University of Northern Colorado to develop an integrated approach to agritourism development in the western US. Researchers in New Hampshire continue their efforts on a NIFA-funded project to assess the potential for local food production and the constraints faced by suppliers of produce grown in northern New England: Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Their survey, currently in the field, uses contingent choice modeling on food characteristics to identify “status quo bias” and spatial dimensions associated with local food systems. Researchers in Idaho are investigating the local food system by examining the role of intermediaries in the food system. They are currently conducting a survey on restaurants and stores in order to examining the role of intermediaries in local food system. Researchers in Oregon are comparing SNAP benefits program designs across states to understand the participation differences between states. Researchers in Ohio investigate the importance of human capital formation, improved local economic development policymaking and efforts to promote best-case energy development from unconventional energy resources. Objective 2 – Community Resilience and Natural / Human-made Disasters: Researchers in NE-1049 are actively investigating the differences in community resilience to natural disasters, natural resource extraction, fiscal policies and/or government institutions, and health. Research on resilience to natural disasters focused on resilience to floods and tornadoes. Researchers in Michigan examined fatalities arising from tornadoes and floods nationally, while researchers in Georgia evaluated the real property impacts associated with flood mitigation. Impacts from natural resource extraction were evaluated in four states: Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Oklahoma. Nevada researchers examined how lithium mining and associated development impacts sage grouse habitat. Ohio researchers examined how boom and bust demographic impacts differed in communities affected by recent oil/gas exploration. Oregon researchers explored how rural communities are adapting to climate change. Oklahoma researchers estimated county impacts from oil/gas exploration and began studying how water availability might impact economic development. Resilience arising from fiscal policy and/or government institutions was researched by project members in Wisconsin, Nevada, Oregon and Oklahoma. Wisconsin researchers investigated the impact of tax and expenditure limits (TELs) on government resiliency by cataloging the unintended consequences associated with these fiscal policies. Nevada researchers investigated the impacts associated with different government institutions. Oregon researchers examined the spatial evolution of municipal government structures and how this evolution might affect a community’s resilience to natural disasters. Oklahoma researchers examined the effects broadband can have on marginalized populations. Colorado researchers defined new measures to implement the Community Capitals framework. Research in Michigan also examined how Google searches can predict suicide rates as a potential indicator of mental health, while Ohio researchers examined the effects of opioid addiction on economic development potential across counties. Other Significant Accomplishments: Awards: <ol> <li>Judy Stallman received the Vice Chancellor of Extension’s Award for Outstanding Achievement at University of Missouri in October 2016 for her work on fiscal issues in rural communities and at the state level.</li> <li>Dave Shideler, Oklahoma State University, was honored with the Southern Agricultural Economics Association’s Outstanding Individual Extension Program for his work on economic development.</li> <li>Mindy Crandall was awarded a USDA-NIFA AFRI grant focusing on youth and labor market transitions in rural areas.</li> </ol>   Impacts <ol> <li>Research findings from NE-1049 members have been featured in many popular outlets, including media interviews at local, state and national levels.</li> <li>NE-1049 members are invited to present their research findings in international, national, regional and local venues and to both academic audiences and stake holders at various levels.</li> <li>NE-1049 members have advised government and non-government agencies in their policy development, review, and implementation.</li> <li>The work of NE-1049 researchers has resulted in additional grant funding in 2016 to support the research objectives of the group and graduate students.</li> </ol>

Publications

NE-1049 Publications April 2016-March 2017 Anderson III, J. L. and M. S. Crandall. 2016. “Economic Contributions of Maine’s Forest Products Industry in 2014, with adjustments to 2016.” Report prepared for the Maine Forest Products Council, 11p. Atreya, Ajita, Susana Ferreira and Warren Kriesel , “Forgetting the Flood? Changes in Flood Risk Perceptions over Time.”  Land Economics, 89(4): 577-596. 2013. Atreya, Ajita, Warren Kriesel, and Jeffery Mullen. “Valuing Open Space in a Marshland Environment: Development Alternatives for Coastal Georgia.”  Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Vol. 48, No. 4: 383-402. 2016 Backman, M., T. Gabe and C. Mellander. “Effects of Human Capital on the Growth and Survival of Swedish Businesses.” Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Vol. 46, No.1, 2016. Bauman, A. and D. Thilmany. “Exploring Localized Economic Dynamics: Methods Driven Case Studies of Transformation and Growth in Agricultural and Food Markets.” Economic Development Quarterly. Forthcoming. Breece, J., G. Mills, and T. Gabe. “The Economic Implications of Maine’s Changing Age Structure.” Maine Policy Review, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2015. Brooks, L. and B. Whitacre.  “The Economic Impact of Rural Hospitals on the Oklahoma Economy.”  Report for the Oklahoma State Office of Rural Health.  May 2016.  13 pp.  Carey, Mary A., and Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. “Ireland’s Input-Output Framework – where are the regions?” Borderlands: The Journal of Spatial Planning in Ireland. In press. Carvajal, Lidia and Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. Impacts of Remittances from Canada's Seasonal Workers Program on Mexican Farms. International Labour Review. 155(2):297-314. Chen, Yunguang, Yong Chen, B. Weber, J. Reimer, "A Sub-County, Multi-Regional Computable General Equilibrium Model for the Assessment of Regional Vulnerability to Natural Disasters and Resilience Plans." 55th Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association, Washington D.C., March 31-April 2, 2016. Conley, K. and B. Whitacre.  “The Downside of Rural Broadband.”  The Daily Yonder, September 1, 2016. Conley, K. and B. Whitacre. 2016.  “Does Broadband Matter for Rural Entrepreneurs or ‘Creative Class’ Employees?”  Review of Regional Studies, 46(2): 171-190. Available at: http://journal.srsa.org/ojs/index.php/RRS/article/view/46.2.4 Crandall, M. “Youth Aspirations and Labor Market Transitions in Rural Communities (2017–2020).” Sponsor: USDA-NIFA, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. Crandall, M. and J. Leahy. Local Labor Markets and Rural Youth Aspirations in Forest-Dependent Communities. Applied Economics – Economic Development working group, Oregon State University, May 2016, Corvallis OR. Crandall, M. S., D. Adams, C. A. Montgomery, and D. Smith. 2017. “The Potential Rural Development Impacts of Utilizing Non-Merchantable Forest Biomass.” Forest Economics and Policy, 74: 20-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.11.002. Cuthbertson, C. A., C. J. Newkirk, J. L. Ilardo, S.T. Loveridge, and M. L. Skidmore. 2016. “Angry, scared, and unsure: Mental health consequences of contaminated water in Flint, Michigan.” Journal of Urban Health. Available from: http://rdcu.be/miyu doi:10.1007/s11524-016-0089-y. Dinterman, R. F. and M. Renkow. 2017. “Evaluation of USDA's Broadband Loan Program: Impacts on Broadband Provision.” Telecommunications Policy, 41(2): 140-153. Dyar, W., J. Lim, and M. L. Skidmore (2017).  “Manufactured Home Living across Rural America,” book chapter in Affordable Housing in Rural America edited by Don Albrecht. Published by Routledge. Edwards, M., C. Heflin, P. Mueser, S. Porter, and B. Weber. “The Great Recession and SNAP Caseloads: A Tale of Two States.” Journal of Poverty, DOI: 10.1080/10875549.2015.1094770 20(3): 261-277. 2016. Figueroa-Armijos, Maria and Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. “Entrepreneurship policy and economic growth, solution or delusion? Evidence from a state initiative.” Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship Journal 47(1): DOI 10.1007/s11187-016-9750-9. Gabe, T. “Effects of the October 2013 U.S. Federal Government Shutdown on National Park Gateway Communities: The Case of Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, Maine.” Applied Economics Letters, Vol. 23, No. 5, 2016. Gabe, T. “Estimating the Percentages of Local Jobs Impacted by Minimum Wage Hikes Proposed in Bangor and Portland, Maine.” School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 620, October 2015. Gabe, T. “The High Seasonality of Tourism in Maine.” School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 621, October 2015. Gabe, T. and J. McConnon. “Economic Contribution of Maine’s Aquaculture Industry.” School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 623, April 2016. Gabe, T. M. and J. R. Abel, “Shared Knowledge and the Coagglomeration of Occupations.” Regional Studies, Vol. 50, No. 8, 2016. Hodge, T., D. McMillen, G. Sands, and M. L. Skidmore. 2016. “Assessment Inequity in a Declining Housing Market: The Case of Detroit.” Real Estate Economics. Johnston, D. M.S. Thesis.  “The Influence of Oil and Gas on Local Retail Sales and Use Tax Receipts:  Evidence from Oklahoma Panel Data.”  83 pp.  Defended April 2016. Kandilov, A., I. Kandilov, X. Liu, and M. Renkow. 2017. “The Impact of Broadband on U.S. Agriculture: An Evaluation of the USDA Broadband Loan Program.” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy 39: in press. Kang, S., L. A. Reese, and M. L. Skidmore. 2016. “Do Industrial Tax Abatements Spur Property Value Growth?” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 35(2), 388-414. Krafft, C., E. E. Davis and K. Tout. 2017. “Child Care Subsidies and the Stability and Quality of Child Care Arrangements.” Early Childhood Research Quarterly 39 (2017): 14-34. 10.1016/j.ecresq.2016.12.002. Kriesel, Warren, Constance Crawley and Maria Bowie, “Who Benefits Most From an On-Line Fitness Program? The Walk Georgia Experience.”  Journal of Extension, 51(4), accessed at http://www.joe.org/joe/2013august/rb6.php . 2013. Lee, H. J.  M.S. Thesis.  “The FCC’s Low-Income Broadband Pilot Program:  Lessons Learned and Implications for Future Policies.”  41 pp.  Defended April 2016.  Lim, J., S. T. Loveridge, R. S. Shupp, and M. L. Skidmore. 2016. “Double danger in the double wide: Poverty, housing quality and tornado impacts.” Regional Science and Urban Economics. Lim, S. H. and L. Zhang. 2016. “Does Casino Development Have a Positive Effect on Economic Growth?” Growth and Change. DOI: 10.1111/growth.12182. Lim, S. H. and P. Turner. 2016. “Airline Fuel Hedging: Do Hedge Horizon and Contract Maturity Matter?” Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, 55(1): 29-49. Liu, Zuoming, Ira Altman and Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. “The Moderating Role of Biomass Availability in Biopower Co-firing ── A Sensitivity Analysis in Missouri.” Journal of Cleaner Production. 135(1): 523-532. Maher, C. S., S. C. Deller, J. I. Stallmann and S. Park. 2016. “The Impact of Tax and Expenditure Limits on Municipal Credit Ratings.”  American Review of Public Administration, 46(5):592-613. Maher, C. S., S. C. Deller, S. Park and J. I. Stallmann.  “The Effects of Tax and Expenditure Limits on State Fiscal Reserves.”  Public Policy and Administration.  32(2):130-151.  2017.  First published, Aug 2, 2106. Manlove, J. and B. Whitacre.  “The Short-term Economic Impact of Rural Hospital Closures.”  Selected paper presented at the Southern Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Mobile, AL Feb 5- 8, 2017. Mishra, Bhawani, Shriniwas Gautam, Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. “A Spatial Analysis of Creative Class Worker Growth Convergence in US Counties.” Romanian Journal of Regional Science. 10(1):41-66. Mossberger, K., J. Horrigan, C. Rhinesmith, and B. Whitacre.  “Developing a National Broadband Research Agenda.”  Webinar for Benton Foundation and Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition.  Sep. 29, 2016. Mu, J. E. and Y. Chen. 2016. “Impacts of large natural disasters on regional income.” Natural Hazards, 83 (3):1485-1503. Pagani, Marco, Matteo Vittuari, Thomas G Johnson, Fabio De Menna. 2016. “An assessment of the energy footprint of dairy farms in Missouri and Emilia-Romagna.” Agricultural Systems 145: 116–126. Pagani, Marco, Thomas G. Johnson, and Matteo Vittuari. 2017. “Energy input in conventional and organic rice production in Missouri and Italy:  a comparative case study.” Journal of Environmental Management. 188:173-182. Park, Y.S., S.H. Lim, G. Egilmez and J. Szmerekovsky. 2016. “Environmental Efficiency Assessment of U.S. Transport Sector: A Slack-based Data Envelopment Analysis Approach.” Transportation Research Part D: Transportation and Environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2016.09.009. Parker, J. A., C. A. Cuthbertson, S.T. Loveridge, M. L. Skidmore, and W. Dyer. 2016. “Forecasting state-level premature deaths from alcohol, drugs, and suicides using Google trends data.” Journal of Affective Disorders. Peek, G., L. D. Sanders, D. Shideler, T. Halihan, C. Penn and K. Neurohr. 2016. “Evaluating the Impacts of Oil and Gas Activity: Hydraulic Fracturing in Selected Oklahoma Counties.” OCES Current Report E-1041. Poudel, Krishna Lal, Thomas G. Johnson and Rachna Tewari. 2016. Property Rights and Sustainable Natural Resource Management. Environmental Management and Sustainable Development. 5(2): 1-11. Shrestha, Rudra Bahadur, Wen-Chi Huang, Shriniwas Gautam, and Thomas G. Johnson. 2016. Efficiency of small scale vegetable farms: Policy implications for rural poverty reduction in Nepal." Agricultural Economics-Zemědělská ekonomika 62(4): 181-195. Skidmore, M. L. 2017. “Economics of Natural Disasters.” In International Library of Critical Writings in Economics.  Published by Edward Elgar. Skidmore, M. L., and W. Dyar. January 2016. “Examining Trends to Predict Future Fiscal Needs.”  Michigan Township Focus. Skidmore, M. L., G. R. Anderson, and M. Eiswerth. 2016. “The child Adoption Marketplace: Parental Preferences and Adoption Outcomes.” Public Finance Review, 44(2), 163-196. Skidmore, M. L., G. Sands, and T. Hodge. 2017. Land values a (nearly) Collapsed Real Estate Market. Land Economics. Stallmann, J. I. and J. Rossi.  “Missouri's Third Class County Budget Trend Analysis, 1996-2013. (Spreadsheet).”  University of Missouri Extension:  DM4011.   June, 2016.  http://outreach.missouri.edu/p/DM4011   Stallmann, J. I. and J. Rossi.  “Missouri's Third Class County Budget Trend Analysis: 1996-2013 Workbook User’s Manual.”  University of Missouri Extension:  DM4010.   June, 2016.  http://outreach.missouri.edu/p/DM4010 Stallmann, J. I., S. C. Deller and C. Maher. “Tax Lids and Tax and Expenditure Limitations: What Does the Research Tell Us?” Invited Keynote Address. Midwest Public Finance Conference. Wichita State University, April 28, 2016. Taylor, J. and B. Whitacre.  “Finding the Most Significant Determinants of Academic Success in the Oklahoma Public School System.”  Poster presentation for Wentz Projects (undergraduate research program), Oklahoma State University.  April 15, 2016. Thilmany, D. “Preparing for Food Security in an Age of Limited Natural Resources: A Focus on Water.” LiveWell Colorado and Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council Webinar. January 2016. Thilmany, D., J. Laughlin, S. Warshawer, and J. O’Hara. “Using Benchmarks to Develop Local Food System Businesses.” Organized Session for the 2016 FDRS Conference. Van Sandt, A. and D. Thilmany. “How to Cater your Agritourism Enterprise to Travelers: Exploring Differences in Traveler Demand in the Western U.S.” November 2016. Van Sandt, A. and D. Thilmany. “Mapping the Western US Agritourism Industry: How do Travel Patterns vary by Location?” CSU DARE Economic Development Report. July 2016. Van Sandt, A., S. Low and D. Thilmany. “A Spatial Analysis of Agritourism in the US: What’s Driving Clusters of Enterprises?” Submitted to the American Economic Perspectives and Policy. Weber, B. A. and D. Freshwater. 2016. “The Death of Distance? Networks, The Costs of Distance and Urban-Rural Interdependence.” Chapter 13 in International Handbook of Rural Studies. Mark Shucksmith and David L. Brown, coeditors. New York: Taylor and Francis. Weber, B. A., J. M. Fannin, S. M. Cordes and T. G. Johnson. “Upward Mobility of Low-income Youth in Metropolitan, Micropolitan and Rural America.” Presented at a conference on the rural urban interface at the University of Pennsylvania. Whitacre, B.  “Broadband Internet can help rural communities connect – if they use it.”  The Conversation, February 23, 2017.  Whitacre, B.  “Internet Options for Low-Income Households in Oklahoma.”  Oklahoma State University Extension Fact Sheet AGEC-1065.  December 2016.  6 pp. Whitacre, B.  2017.  “Fixed Broadband or Mobile:  What Makes Us More Civically Engaged?”  Telematics and Informatics, 34(5): 755-766.  Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073658531630630X Whitacre, B.  2017.  “The Influence of the Degree of Rurality on EMR Adoption, by Physician Specialty.”  Health Services Research, 52(2): 616-633. Available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-6773.12510/abstract Whitacre, B. “Technology is improving – why is rural broadband access still a problem?”  The Conversation, June 8, 2016.  Whitacre, B. and J. Manlove.  “Use of Broadband Linked to Greater Levels of Civic Engagement.”  The Daily Yonder, September 22, 2016.   Whitacre, B. and J. Taylor.  “Oklahoma High School Achievement – Do Small Schools Perform Better or Worse?”  Oklahoma State University Extension Current Report AGEC-1061.  June 2016.  4 pp.  Whitacre, B. and Manlove, J.  2016. “Broadband and Civic Engagement in Rural Areas:  What Matters?”  Community Development, 47(5): 700-717.  Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15575330.2016.1212910 Whitacre, B., D. Shideler, and R. Williams.  2016.  “Do Incentive Programs Cause Growth?  The Case of the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program and Community-level Economic Growth.”  Economic Development Quarterly, 30(1): 62-74. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0891242415614641 Whitacre, B., E. Frederick, and K. Cole.  “Broadband and Economic Development:  Research and On-the-ground Examples.”  Webinar for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s Broadband USA Initiative.  Nov. 16, 2016. Whitacre, B., L. Brooks, D. Wheeler, and C. Landgraf.  “The National Broadband Map and the Rural – Urban Healthcare Connectivity Gap.”  Poster presentation for the National Rural Health Association’s Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN.  May 10-12, 2016. Whitacre, B., R. Gallardo, and C. Hancock.  “e-Strategies Overview:  Research and Programming Advice on Broadband and Its Impact on Rural Places.”  Presented to Purdue Center for Regional Development e-Strategies Team.  Lafayette, Indiana.  Sep. 27-28, 2016. Wu, J., B. A. Weber and M. D. Partridge. “Rural-Urban Interdependence: A Framework Integrating Regional, Urban and Environmental Economic Insights.” Wu, J., Y. Chen. 2016. “The Evolution of Municipal Structure.” Journal of Economic Geography, 16 (4):917-940.

Impact Statements

The work of NE-1049 researchers has resulted in additional grant funding in 2015 to support the research objectives of the group and graduate students.