Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The primary focus of the meeting was on the continuation of the project beyond the current five year period. There was a concensus to develop a new proposal. The new proposal will address two issues under the Experiment Stations Science Roadmap (that also overlaps with the NIFA Areas of Focus) - Local/Regional Foods and Community Resilience. The participants started to frame out these topics and prepared drafts of two objectives and related issues. Assignments were made to have individuals further develop these objectives.

The NE1029 group was prolific in 2010. There were 45 reported publications in peer reviewed journals along with a book chapter. Participants reported that 20 manuscripts were presented at professional meetings and/or published in conference proceedings, and 38 technical reports and staff papers were prepared. The research and information generated by these NE-1029 efforts are and will increasingly play an important role in policy formation. During the year, project participants provided valuable support and insight in each others research efforts. A detailed summary of accomplishments for each objective are summarized below. Objective 1: Identify and analyze ongoing and potential changes in rural labor markets and the impacts of migration, commuting, and workforce development policies on rural labor markets. California researchers developed a new version of the Environmental Dynamic Revenue Model, which was delivered to the California Air Resources Board. Using the model, the researchers evaluated the macro effects of a proposed renewable energy standard for California. The standard includes the proposed use of biogas and biomass for energy. They found that the proposed standard results in a small contraction in state output and personal income. The Economic Research Service focused significant research effort on digital economic policy and on-farm renewable energy use. The digital economic policy research analyzed the economic relationship between the Internet and rural economies. The on-going study examined the economics of communication and information service delivery and on-line economic activities (such as e-commerce) with respect to farm and rural businesses examining various farm business characteristics and the likelihood of Internet use in management. A briefing room on rural digital economy is available at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/telecom/. The research has been used by Congress, the Council of Economic Advisors, and other federal policy making entities. On-farm renewable energy use is an on-going study of farm-level interrelationships with the renewable fuels sector. The study showed that farm operators not only grew biomass crops but invested in renewable energy production for on-farm use as well as selling to the electrical grid. Bio-digesters, wind energy, and solar energy though rapidly increasing, still were only minor factors in farm operations. In Georgia, NE-1029 helped to support his project helped to fund the development of an outreach effort in the form of (a) the project report "Economic Analysis of the Coastal Georgia Real Estate Market and Applications of the Results" and (b) a set of online price estimation tools for developers, homebuyers and local officials. Tax assessors' databases were obtained from metropolitan Chatham County, suburban Glynn County and rural Camden County in Georgia. A separate statistical study was performed for each of the counties to explain variation in sale prices. In each of the counties around 2,000 properties were analyzed for a total of 5,964 parcels. Results show that buyers place a premium on larger parcels, but this can be outweighed by the higher premium they place on planned open spaces inside the subdivision. Among other things, the study is the first to show that the trade-off between open space and lot sizes. Findings inform local government officials as they prepare for the changing the real estate market that increasingly emphasizes low-impact development strategies. NE-1029 researchers in Kentucky helped to create the Stronger Economies Together curriculum for regions across the United States. This curriculum was based on the "Targeting Regional Economic Development" book edited by Goetz, Harris and Deller of which Alison Davis contributed two chapters. The crux of this curriculum focuses on cluster analysis and building on a region's competitive advantage. The mission was to help promote local businesses by first having them understand their current local economy. A Kentucky researcher was also awarded a research project that investigates health access, quality and quantity in Kentucky. This project will look at clusters of health care, health care professionals, and the economic impact of health care on communities. In Maine, researchers examined the potential economic impact of a proposed casino in Oxford, Maine. This project involved a market potential analysis and an econometric analysis of the effects of casinos on local restaurant and lodging sales. A project report was released in August of 2010, which led to several newspaper articles, radio interviews (e.g., Maine Public Radio, George Hale and Ric Tyler Show on WVOM), and television coverage. Research on the impacts of the proposed Oxford casino informed Maine voters about a statewide referendum question appearing on the November ballot. Groups on both sides of the casino issue used results from the study in public debates leading up to the election. In early 2010, project investigators examined the effects of cellular telephone warning labels on Maine retailers. Findings from this study were presented on March 2, 2010, to the Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services. The study on cellular telephone warning labels informed members of a legislative committee, which voted on whether or not a bill should be considered by the full Maine Legislature. In Minnesota, scientists analyzed different methods for measuring economic linkages across counties using data from the Census Bureau Longitudinal Employment Dynamics (LED) program. The data include counts of workers' primary job location and residence location at a detailed geographic level for Minnesota and bordering states. In 2010, this work was expanded to look at significant workforce flows by worker characteristics, including wage level, age and industry. Two manuscripts were prepared for publication in peer-reviewed journals and findings were disseminated at the Southern Regional Science Association annual conference. A key finding of this research was that it is very important to account for economic ties between counties when formulating economic development policy. In Missouri, researchers examined the broad industrial structure of the current bio-power industry including the organizational forms used to procure or transfer ownership of biomass. Based on survey evidence, the current bio-power industry was found to be highly vertically integrated with little use of spot markets. This result is found to be consistent across the type of biomass fuel used. A North Carolina researcher is evaluating the degree to which the availability of broadband in rural communities has been an important for U.S. rural development. Since 2000, federal broadband loan programs authorized under consecutive Farm Bills have directed more than $1.8 billion to private telecommunications providers in 40 states with the explicit goal of making high-speed data transmission capacity available to rural residents and businesses. Most recently, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 authorized $2.5 billion in new federal funding for these same purposes. Arguments in favor of these programs are supported by research projecting large economic benefits from widespread broadband deployment. However, these projections obscure the fact that the distribution of these benefits is not likely to be uniform, either spatially or across industries. For example, prior research conducted under this project (and published during this reporting period) found evidence that the loan program created a range of impacts - some positive, some negative - that varied across industries and across county types (Kandilov and Renkow 2010). During this reporting period, the researcher further explored the impact of broadband loans on the agricultural industry, finding that commodity sales, production expenses, farm income, and farm size have been positively affected by the broadband loan program. NE-1029 researchers in Oklahoma studied whether or not the early provision of broadband access impacted migration in rural areas. They found that only rural communities that were able to offer more than one type of broadband access had statistically significant higher rates of in-migration. Oklahoma also continues to play an important part in researching various rural health topics. In particular, their research this year demonstrated that the presence of a critical access hospital has a sizeable positive impact on the retail sector of a community. Researchers at Ohio State University have been prolific in terms of refereed publications. A primary focus of this research is on how proximity to urban areas affects housing location, land-use, economic activity, population retention, and rural poverty. It has also sought to identify patterns of exurbanization and the underlying processes that determine these patterns, as well as the linkages between regional processes (e.g., regional economic growth, job creation, and commuting), natural amenities, and exurban land-use patterns. Finally, this work demonstrates a link between small business vitality and subsequent local economic growth. The research has been disseminated via the web, at professional conferences, and is at varying stages of review for academic publication. The audience for these papers includes academics, while the underlying findings also support the less technical presentations, media work, and policy briefs. A second set of outputs revolve around policy briefs that illustrates how the green economy will affect the Ohio and national economies. The briefs suggest modest effects on job creation and describe how a more targeted approach would be more effective. The findings of the policy brief were disseminated via press releases, web-based publications, radio interviews, and by public presentations. The targeted audience for these policy briefs and related presentations include informed decision makers, economic development officials, and elected/appointed government officials, and interested members of the public. To leverage greater public appeal, Ohio State University has formed partnerships with organizations such as The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Greater Ohio. In Pennsylvania, commuting network models for the US were specified and estimated to analyze impacts of network topography (eg, centrality, in-entropy, out-entropy) on local economic growth rates. Results show 1) marked increases in commuting in the US over time , and 2) that even rural counties in the most rural places (rural-urban continuum codes 6, 8) can have high out-centrality scores, comparable to those found in urban core areas (code 1). Research also suggests the need for more investigation at the micro level into underlying mechanisms of settlement patterns and economic activity along the rural-urban continuum. Related research now underway will determine the relationships among commuting, migration and network topography. Under obj. 1, Pennsylvania research also continued to explore the role of informal work in the well-being of families in rural and urban America. Based on a national-level survey of about 1800 US households, this research reveals widespread participation in informal work. The work is often important for household economic survival, especially among poor households. The research suggests that informal work is somewhat more prevalent in rural than urban, a spatial difference partly accounted for by greater levels of social capital in the countryside. Objective 2: Investigate the potential for rural development policies based on entrepreneurship, industrial clustering, value-added and nontraditional agricultural businesses and analyze the spatial implications of industrial restructuring on employment and earnings. Arkansas researchers recently conducted a study of Hispanic entrepreneurs, showing that this demographic group operates a diverse array of businesses. The study also identified barriers faced by Hispanic entrepreneurs. Alleviating these barriers will help communities more fully capitalize on the human capital that exists in these migrant groups. They also examined the alternative sources of economic stability for declining rural locations across Arkansas. In particular, they used survey data to explore the potential impact to local economies from an expansion of agritourism in the distressed Delta region of Arkansas. The analysis reveals that farm operators' and/or landowners' perceived future success in the agritourism industry in Arkansas entail different assistance depending on the regional location in the state. The assistances identified are support in training the farm operators; agritourism promotion and marketing; and awareness of laws and regulations impact on agritourism. State government's sponsored trainings in agritourism along with marketing and promotion are viewed as the most important factors in all studied regions that affect operators' decision to participate in the program. However the following regional variations were manifest in the results, in the Ozark region providers are more receptive to face-to-face training interactions while the Delta providers appear to prefer newsletters and news releases. Regarding laws and regulations, property and water rights are given more emphasis in the Ouachita region, but assistance with grant resources was identified in the Ozarks. Delta farmers are interested in receiving help with the identification of niche markets while Ouachita providers are concerned with promotion and marketing assistance. The information is useful to extension leaders and administrators at the Arkansas Department of Agriculture as they plan future agritourism programs in the state. In Colorado, NE-1029 activity has focused on the economic development issues surrounding Colorado's agricultural and agribusiness sectors. An agritourism project culminated in a number of workshops, completed curriculum and one peer-reviewed publication. In addition, work on immigration has focused on analyzing the trends seen in hired labor used in the Colorado agricultural sector. This work has been disseminated at one conference and through discussions with major labor advocacy groups in Colorado. Also, analysis of recreational surveys for golf and agritourism has been shared with the stakeholders through existing professional meetings and agritourism workshops organized with CSU Extension. In Idaho, research has been conducted on wage and employment, showing a significant gap in Idaho wages relative to the U.S. average. Idaho's wage gap was the result of positive sector bias on employment growth in influential low-wage sectors and negative sector bias on employment growth and the low level of wages in the influential high-wage sectors. The economy of the Rocky Mountain region can be characterized as caught in a low-skill/low-wage equilibrium trap. These results inform policies on employment training and education policies. Researchers in Missouri have examined the growing meat and poultry processing industry in rural parts of the Midwest. This research examines the impacts of meat and poultry processing plants on social and economic outcomes, using data on non-metropolitan counties in twenty-three Midwestern and Southern states spanning a decade. The research shows that while growth in the industry is associated with community change, particularly changing demographics, the dramatic burdens documented in a few case studies appear to be the exception rather than the rule. Industry growth has had an important impact on the demographic composition of rural communities and their schools, but appears not to contribution to the funding of government expenditures. This suggests that rural communities consider the trade off the economic benefits of hosting these large employers against the costs of accommodating needs of new residents. The research adds new information to the controversial debate regarding the impact of the meat industry in rural Midwestern communities. A New Hampshire researcher has used a on-line survey tool to ascertain the degree of corporate interest in offering part-time and full-time jobs to both rural and urban citizens in New England. Building on previous pilot surveys, high-level executives were queried for the specific information necessary to facilitate the employer/part-time retiree matching process. The data collected continued to be focused on the "rural retiree." During this 2010 project year, data were obtained from over 900 businesses and 500 retirees. Results indicate that retirees wishing to return to work on a part-time basis did possess highly valued skill sets. When the random sample of retirees on the East Coast (from ME to FL) were informed of the purpose of the research project, over one-hundred of the respondents actually registered to use a temporary skill-matching service. Results of the research conducted during the project year were presented at the NAREA meeting in June 2010. In Oklahoma, NE-1029 scientists focused on the role of policy and digital communications on economic development/entrepreneurship and on local government and tax policy, respectively. The findings of this research will promote a better understanding (change in knowledge) of the environment required for successful entrepreneurial efforts. This work serves to inform and encourage use of broadband in rural areas and generate new business activity. New research in Tennessee evaluates the economic impacts of adding green jobs to the Appalachian Region (AR), a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi (Appalachian Regional Commission, 2010). Many of the AR counties fall within the economically distressed or at risk categories. Green jobs can provide a potential avenue for environmentally sustainable economic development. Green jobs are defined as & family-supporting jobs that contribute significantly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality (TN Dept. Labor Workforce and Development, 2008). These jobs primarily originate in sectors to produce renewable energy and efficiently use energy. For this study, key areas considered were wind energy, solar energy, ethanol conversion, biodiesel refining, co-firing wood residues with coal, landfill gas, and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency. An IMPLAN model using 2006 data is used to project the economic impacts of adding a million dollars of total industry output for each of these activities. In Texas, researchers considered the long-run sustainability and locally grown markets. The also gave presentations on a diverse set of issues such as obesity reduction and the economic impact of the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico region. Objective 3: Investigate the changing organizational structure, tax policy and fiscal standing of local governments and the impact of tax and/or expenditure limitations on local government fiscal stress and economic growth in rural areas. In Arkansas, researchers have focused on the decline of the economic base in many rural areas and inability of local governments to generate enough revenue to pay for needed public infrastructure and services. A recent study of county government revenue and expenditures found that nearly one-fourth of non-metropolitan counties lost revenue between 1999 and 2007. Not only do these counties have little capacity to generate local revenue, but many have high sales and property tax rates which further constrains their ability to generate additional local revenue. An NE-1029 scientist in Idaho has made significant contributions to policymakers by conducting important forecasts of state revenues. This research was disseminated by making a series of presentation to state policymakers. A Michigan researcher is working on issues related to local government fiscal challenges. The work includes evaluation of efforts regarding local government consolidation and/or cooperation. In addition, he has work with the Michigan Department of Treasury to develop a local government fiscal data management system: The system is now available to the practitioners and the public for accessing data http://f65.mitreasury.msu.edu/. The portal increases transparency, accountability, and decision-making power at the local, regional, and state levels. Minnesota investigators examined the changing organizational structure, tax policy, and fiscal standing of local governments and the impact of tax and/or expenditure limitations on local government fiscal stress and economic growth in rural areas. For this objective, we began a new study of taxpayers' willingness to accept increased tax filing costs in exchange for non-transparency of earnings to the tax authority (i.e., the opportunity to under-report earnings). Researchers in Missouri were contracted by the Missouri Agricultural and Small Business Development Authority to determine the economic impacts and costs and benefits to the state of a grant program for agricultural value-added technical and feasibility studies and a tax credit program for New Generation Cooperatives. As a result of this work, businesses that receive money under these programs are now required to report to the state for three years. This should improve the ability of the state to evaluate the programs. Tennessee scientists are evaluating the land value taxation as a potential smart growth policy tool because it does not infringe on private property rights. Through land value taxation, municipalities can reform prevailing property tax schemes to moderate sprawl by reducing the tax rate applied to building values, while increasing the tax rate applied to land values. Such taxation schemes have been referred to as a two-rate property tax (TPT). A two-rate property tax (TPT) imparts different tax rates on land and structures. A hypothetical TPT is evaluated as an instrument to promote open space preservation in a rapidly growing metropolitan county in Tennessee. The potential TPT effects on open space equilibrium levels were compared with simulated equilibrium levels reflecting the TPT policy shock. Ex ante results suggest that equilibrium open space levels were positively displaced following a revenue neutral tax policy on land. About 76% of the households valued open space more following a land value tax rate of 9.04%, which suggests that households in certain locations are likely to support programs or policies preserving open space. In Wisconsin research followed two lines of work: (1) tax and expenditure limitations (TELs) and (2) privatization. Research findings suggest that TELs are too blunt of a policy instrument and have numerous unintended consequences. In addition, for small rural local governments privatization as an alternative service delivery option is limited due to thinness of provider markets and most opportunities have already played out, but alternatives such as cooperative agreements across numerous local jurisdictions have significant opportunities. It is important to note that this work was a collaborative effort with a NE-1029 researcher in Missouri. Objective 4: Develop a better understanding of the role of amenities in rural development and the impact of economic and social changes on the quality of life in rural communities. Iowa researchers have been studying the factors affecting economic opportunities and quality of life for communities and for individuals living and working in rural areas. The analysis has helped communities understand economic changes and to develop strategies to adjust to them. Ongoing research and outreach are helping communities evaluate opportunities for investing in recreational amenities such as trails, water quality improvements, and boat docking facilities. Identifying opportunities to expand recreational resources improve quality of life for Iowan as well as creating new jobs and income. Flood disasters were again a major issue for a number of Iowa communities in 2010 and the studies and strategies developed during the 2008 floods were used to assist affected communities assess flood impacts and responses. Research assessing the nature and growth of farmers markets and potential for alternative crops are helping entrepreneurs identify new market opportunities. Identifying demographic changes in rural communities helps state and local governments develop appropriate service delivery policies and programs. Iowa researchers also used data from over 5400 Iowa State University alumni spanning 24 years to compare the characteristics of graduates who chose rural residence locations with those who chose to reside in an urban area. There are a few strong predictors of which graduates choose to live in rural counties. The most likely rural alumni are rural born with degrees from the College of Agriculture. Rural alumni place greater emphasis on non-pecuniary career goals than their urban counterparts. These data also show a large income gap between rural and urban alumni, which widens with experience and advanced degrees. In addition, researchers in Iowa are investigating entrepreneurship of migrants and their location choice in attempt to draw connections between migration and economic development, especially the role of business formation in rural development. Social capital and social networks established in ones home region are a strong factor in location choice of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs from rural origins tend to start their businesses in rural areas in general and half of entrepreneurs migrate back to their home region to take local comparative advantages. Rural entrepreneurs are also more likely to obtain financial support from family members, friends and local banks to start a business than are their urban counterparts. More generally, we find rural residents are more likely to start a business than urban residents. In the wake of recent natural disasters this past year, the research of a Michigan NE-1029 member on disaster resilience and economic development was widely cited in media outlets such as the PBS News Hour, New York Times, Reuters, The Economist, Forbes, New Yorker, Business Week, and Money. Looking ahead, this line of work may fit in well with the new emphasis on issues related to rural resilience. In Missouri researchers conducted a number of economic baseline and scenario analyses for regions of Missouri. In one, the Boone County (Columbia) region was compared with 24 communities with similar population characteristics and research universities. This report was developed as a follow-up to the City of Columbia Baseline Report 2005  2015. The report indicates that the region compares well with peer regions of similar population and university characteristics. Further, in a study of six county rural region in Northeast Missouri we used the Show-Me Model to develop 10 year annual baseline projections of demographic, economic, and fiscal conditions through 2016. The report provided comparisons of various strategies for redevelopment following recent, severe flooding of the region. Oregon researchers collaborated across states on three projects that yielded publications in 2010. One study addresses a key determinant of rural change and rural quality of life: community capacity and social capital. Assessing community capacity is an important step in developing community strategies for reaching community goals. The small size, fragility and remoteness of rural communities introduce unique challenges to those who would study capacity in these places. At the same time, the human scale and rich social interaction in rural communities makes the assessment of capacity in such places particularly fruitful and rewarding. The NRE Rural Observatory and Central Oregon SCCBS provide excellent examples of assessment models and techniques that take advantage of the opportunities and address the challenges of rural social capital and community capacity assessment. Particularly important to the success of the NRE was the explicit model of community change, careful selection of communities that participated in the Rural Observatory, and involvement of community leaders in all phases of the project. A second study examined thresholds for community sustainability. Small communities worry about whether there is a critical mass of population below which the community may not survive. Using the Oregon community-level data and applying the threshold estimation method of Hansen (2000), we quantitatively distinguish small communities from their larger counterparts based on significant structural differences in population change. Our results suggest that such a critical population mass is nonexistent. Our results also support the use of community population thresholds as a qualifying condition for the participation in government grant and loan programs and the targeting of community development programs to smaller communities. A third study examines the impact of federal forest policy and rural development investments on community growth and wealth creation during the last two decades, looking at changes in population and the value of bank deposits in 200 rural communities in Oregon. Preliminary results suggest that the implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan has no significant impact on the wealth accumulation process among the rural communities in Oregon. The rural development program of USDA is marginally significant in promoting community population growth but not significant in promoting growth in bank deposits. We are not confident that the wealth creation results because we are not confident that FDIC data on bank deposits are a very good indicator of community financial wealth (in part, because of the failure to capture other forms of financial assets like the investment in stock markets). Tennessee researchers are investigating the economic impacts of adding green jobs to the Appalachian Region (AR), a 205,000-square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi (Appalachian Regional Commission, 2010). Many of the AR counties fall within the economically distressed or at risk categories. Green jobs can provide a potential avenue for environmentally sustainable economic development. Green jobs are defined as & family-supporting jobs that contribute significantly to preserving or enhancing environmental quality (TN Dept. Labor Workforce and Development, 2008). These jobs primarily originate in sectors to produce renewable energy and efficiently use energy. For this study, key areas considered were wind energy, solar energy, ethanol conversion, biodiesel refining, co-firing wood residues with coal, landfill gas, and retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency. Also, these researchers used the 2004 Agricultural Resource Management Survey to examine the linkages between farm household and business expenditures and communities are explored. Farms in urban areas purchase household goods in markets closest to the farmstead, but traveled further to purchase farm business items. The opposite pattern was observed in rural locations. These findings may have implications with respect to understanding the role of farm program support and local economic development. This project will obtain critical information about Tennessee vegetable and fruits farmers ability to participate and benefit from Locally Grown Produce (LGP) markets. Finally, the Tennessee Rural EcoNomic Development (TREND) website continues to reach interested users wanting information about rural development issues in Tennessee, as well as elsewhere. Total hits from January to November 2010 summed to 86,652 (and average of 259 per day), with 17,278 visitors. The role of the website is to summarize our current and ongoing research related to the NE1029 project objectives, as well as serving as a platform to other websites focusing on rural economic development. Pennsylvania multidisciplinary research continued, bringing together economists, sociologists, soil scientists, geographers and ecologists to focus on measuring perceptions and impacts of development and land use change on indicators of quality of life across the Susquehanna Transition Zone (STZ) in Pennsylvania and New York State. The effort involves qualitative surveys of local officials and other key informants, quantitative surveys in a stratified sample of HUC14 watersheds, and photo-interpretation of changes in land use and land cover from historical aerial photographs for the selected watersheds, dating from the late 1930s. Access to amenities and the role of rural amenities in driving patterns of growth is an important component of this work. Surveys across the region will be completed within a year, forming the first wave of data collection to monitor changes in land use, environmental impacts, economic well-being, and quality of life across the T-Zone transect, as widespread development continues. Data collection provides for broad stakeholder input and assessment of change and is particularly relevant given the recent Chesapeake Bay Executive Order. Other work conducted by Pennsylvania researchers used spatial modeling to understand geographic variation in county-level mortality rates. This work confirmed the so-called "rural paradox" (nonmetropolitan mortality rates that are lower than expected in view of socioeconomic disadvantages characterizing these places) and finds a partial explanation in the higher levels of social capital in the countryside. Finally, new research is being undertaken in Pennsylvania that extends earlier immigration research conducted under NE-1029 to include infectious disease management, environmental quality and quality of life in the Rio Grande Corridor. The goal is to determine appropriate policy options and response in a border transition zone.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles Ali, Kamar, M. Rose Olfert, and Mark D. Partridge. 2010. Rural-to-Urban Commuting: Three Degrees of Integration. Growth and Change. 41: 303-335. Briggeman, Brian and Brian Whitacre (senior authorship shared). 2010. Farming and the Internet: Reasons for Non-use. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 39(3): 571-584. Carrion-Flores, Carmen and Elena G. Irwin. 2010. Identifying spatial interaction effects in the presence of spatially error autocorrelation: an application to land use spillovers. Energy and Resource Economics 32: 135153. Cho, S., D.M. Lambert, R.K. Roberts, and S.G. Kim. 2010. Moderating Urban Sprawl: Is there a Balance between Shared Open Space and Housing Parcel Size? Journal of Economic Geography, 10(5): 763  783. Cho, S., D.M. Lambert, and R.K. Roberts. 2010. Forecasting Open Space with a Two-Rate Property Tax. Land Economics, 86(2): 263 - 280. Cooke, Stephen C. and Bharathkumar A. Kulandaisamy. 2010. Wage Divergence between the Rocky Mountain States and the U.S.: Idaho Measures and Sources, 2001 to 2009, The Review of Regional Studies Vol. 40, No.1. Cotti Chad, Skidmore, Mark. 2010. The Impact of State Government Subsidies and Tax Credits in an Emerging Industry: Ethanol Production 1980-2007, Southern Economics Journal, 76 (4). Das, Biswa R., and Daniel V. Rainey. 2010 "Agritourism in the Arkansas Delta Byways: Assessing the Economic Impacts" International Journal of Tourism Research. Vol 12 (3): 265-280. Deller, Steven C. 2010. Rural Poverty, Tourism and Spatial Heterogeneity Annals of Tourism Research. 37(1):180-205. Deller, Steven C. and Deller, Melissa. 2010. Rural Crime and Social Capital. Growth and Change. 41(2):221-275. Deller, Steven C. 2010. Spatial Heterogeneity in the Role of Microenterprises in Economic Growth. Review of Regional Studies. 40(1):70-96. Goetz, Stephan, Partridge, Mark, Deller, Steven C. and Flemming, David. 2010. Evaluating Rural Entrepreneurship Policy in the U.S. Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy. 40(1): 20-33. Goetz, Stephan J., Yicheol Han, Jill L. Findeis, Kathryn Brasier (2010), US Commuting Networks and Economic Growth: Measurement and Implications for Spatial Policy, Growth and Change, 41(2): 276-302. Hansen, Tonya J., and Laura Kalambokidis. 2010. How Are Businesses Responding to Minnesota's Tax-Free Zone Program? Economic Development Quarterly, 24: 180-192 Irwin, Elena G. 2010. New directions for urban economic models of land use change: incorporating spatial dynamics and heterogeneity. Journal of Regional Science 50(1): 65-91. Irwin, Elena G., Andrew M. Isserman, Maureen Kilkenny, and Mark D. Partridge. 2010. A Century of Research on Rural Development and Regional Issues. American Journal Agricultural Economics 92(2): 522553. Jeanty, P. Wilner, Mark D. Partridge, and Elena Irwin. 2010. Estimation of a Spatial Simultaneous Equation Model of Population Migration and Housing Price Dynamics. Regional Science and Urban Economics. 40: 343-352. Jomaa, Lamis H., Elaine McDonnell, Elaine Weirich, Terryl Hartman, Leif Jensen, and Claudia Probart. 2010. "Student Involvement in Wellness Policies: A Study of Pennsylvania Local Education Agencies." Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 42(6): 372-379. Kandilov, I. T. and Renkow, M. 2010. Infrastructure Investment and Rural Economic Development: An Evaluation of USDA's Broadband Loan Program. Growth and Change, 41: 165191. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2257.2010.00524.x . Kazeem, A., L. Jensen, C. S. Stokes. 2010. School Attendance in Nigeria: Understanding the Impact and Intersection of Gender, Urban-Rural Residence and Socioeconomic Status. Comparative Education Review, 54(2): 295-319. Kim, S.G., S. Cho, D.M. Lambert, and R.K. Roberts. 2010. Measuring the Value of Air Quality: Application of the Spatial-Hedonic Model. Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health, 3: 41 - 51. Kinsella, Jim, Stephan J. Goetz. Mark Partridge, Steven C. Deller and David Fleming. 2010. Evaluating RD Policies for Social and Human Capital Development. Euro Choices. 9(1): 42-47. Kinsella, James, Goetz, Stephan, Partridge, Mark, Deller Steven C. and Flemming, David. 2010. Evaluating the Contribution of Policies on Human Development: Entrepreneurship EuroChoices. 9(1):43-47. Mahasuweerachai, Phumsith, Brian Whitacre, and David Shideler. 2010. Does Broadband Access Impact Migration in America? Examining Differences between Rural and Urban Areas. Review of Regional Studies 40(1): 5-26. Marre, Alexander and Bruce Weber, Assessing Community Capacity and Social Capital in Rural America: Lessons from Two Rural Observatories, Community Development, 41(1):92-107, Winter 2010. McGregor, Peter, Mark D. Partridge, and Dan S. Rickman. 2010. Innovations in Regional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Modelling. Regional Studies. 44: 1307-1310. Midmore, Peter; Mark D. Partridge, M. Rose Olfert, and Kamar Ali. .2010. The Evaluation of Rural Development Policy: Macro and Micro Perspectives. Euro Choices. 9(1): 24-29. Mohr, Robert D., Deller, Steven C. and Halstead, John M. 2010. Public-Private Partnerships,Cooperative Agreements, and the Production of Public Services in Small and Rural Municipalities Public Administration Review. 70(6):894-905. Morris, Douglas E. and Lyndon E. Goodridge and Alberto Manalo. 2010. New England Firms Willingness to Hire Retirees. ARER, Vol 39/3. Olfert, M. Rose and Mark D. Partridge. 2010. Best Practices in Twenty-First-Century Rural Development and Policy. Growth and Change. 41: 147-164. Oropesa, R. S., L. I. Jensen. 2010. Dominican Immigrants and Discrimination in a New Destination: The Case of Reading, Pennsylvania. City & Community, 9(3): 274-298. Partridge, Mark D. 2010. "The Dueling Models: NEG vs Amenity Migration in Explaining U.S. Engines of Growth." Papers in Regional Science. 89: 513-536. Partridge, Mark D., Dan S. Rickman, Kamar Ali and M. Rose Olfert. 2010. The Spatial Dynamics of Factor Price Differentials: Productivity or Consumer Amenity Driven? Regional Science and Urban Economics, 40: 440-452. Partridge, Mark D. and Dan S. Rickman. 2010. CGE Modeling for Regional Economic Development Analysis. Regional Studies, 44: 1311-1328. Refsgaard, Karen and Thomas G. Johnson. 2010. Modeling Policies for Multifunctional Agriculture and Rural Development: a Norwegian Case Study. Environmental Policy & Governance. In press. Roy, Eric D., Jay F. Martin, Elena G. Irwin, Joseph D. Conroy, David A. Culver. 2010. Unstable ecological-economic equilibria: the effects of invasive species and ecosystem restoration on nutrient management compromise in Lake Erie. Ecology and Society 15(1): 20. Skidmore, Mark, Ballard, Charles, Hodge, Tim. 2010. "Property Value Assessment Growth Limits and Redistribution of Property Tax Payments: Evidence from Michigan." 63. National Tax Journal, 3rd Quarter/Summer. Skidmore, Mark, Kashian, Russ. 2010. The Relationship between Tax Increment Finance and Property Taxation, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 40. Stallmann, Judith I. and Deller, Steven C. 2010. Impact of State and Local Tax and Expenditure Limits on Economic Growth. Applied Economic Letters. 17(7):645-648. Stenberg, P., Morehart, M., 2010. "Farm Businesses, the Digital Economy, and Broadband Internet", Delhi Business Review, Vol. 11, no. 2, July  December. Sullins, M, D. Moxon and D. Thilmany McFadden. 2010. Agritourism in Colorado: A Cluster Analysis of Visitors. Journal of Agribusiness. Fall. Toya, Hideki, Skidmore, Mark, Robertson, Raymond. 2010. A Reevaluation of the Effect of Human Capital Accumulation on Economic Growth: Using Natural Disasters as an Instrument, Eastern Economic Journal, 36 (1). Welsch, David, Statz, Bambi, Skidmore, Mark. 2010. An Examination of Inter-District Public School Transfers in Wisconsin, Economics of Education Review, 29. Whitacre, Brian and Bradford Mills. 2010. A Need for Speed? Rural Internet Connectivity and the No access / Dial-up / High-speed Decision. Applied Economics 42(15): 1889-1905. Whitacre, Whitacre. 2010. The Diffusion of Internet Technologies to Rural Communities: A Portrait of Broadband Supply and Demand. American Behavioral Scientist 53 (9): 1283-1303. Book Chapters Debertin, David L. and Stephan J. Goetz. 2010. Social Capital Formation in Rural, Urban and Suburban Communities. in Environmental Politics: From Sociability to Sustenance, ed Prasenjit Maiti, pp.166-195. Discovery Publishing House PVT.LTD New Delhi (India). Selected Conference Presentations and Proceedings Abreo, Christina, W. P. Miller, S. McCullough, F. L Farmer, and Z. K. Moon. 2010. If I Just Had a Piece of Paper: One Land Grant Universitys Response to Latino Immigrant Entrepreneurs Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Multistate Research Project, SERA37 (Raleigh, North Carolina). Chen, Yong, Lena Etuk, Mallory Rahe and Bruce Weber, Threshold Estimation of Community Population Change: Is there a minimum population size for community viability? NARSC meeting November 2010, Denver Deller, Steven C., and Sundaram-Stukel, Reka. 2010. The Location Decisions of US Credit Unions. Presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Western Regional Science Association, Sedona, AZ. February 21-24. Deller, Steven C. and Stallmann, Judith. 2010. The Impact of Tax and Expenditure Limits on City Credit Ratings. Paper presented at the 41st Annual Meetings of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, St. Louis, MO. June 3-5. Deller, Steven C., Amiel, Lindsay, and Deller, Melissa. 2010. The Determinants of Midwestern Rural Crime: An Application of Bayesian Model Averaging. Paper presented at the 57th Annual Meetings of the North American Regional Science Association, Denver, CO November 10-13. Farmer, Frank L, Z. K. Moon, C. Abreo, W. P. Miller, and S. McCullough. 2010. Immigrant Latin American Entrepreneurs in a New Destination State: Who Are They? Paper presented at the annual meetings of Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology (St. Louis, Missouri). Farmer, Frank L, Z. K. Moon, C. Abreo, W. P Miller, and S. McCullough. 2010. Latin American Migrant Entrepreneurship: An Empirical Assessment of Rural-Urban Differences. Paper presented at 73rd Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society (Atlanta, Georgia). Farmer, Frank L and Wayne P. Miller with Zola K. Moon, Christina Abreo and Stacey McCullough. 2010. Entrepreneurial Development Targeting Rural Hispanic Immigrants: A Collaborative Research and Extension Effort Presented in a WEBINAR format at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture. November 2010. Miller, J. D., McCullough, S.W., Rainey, D.V., & Das, B. (2010) [peer reviewed]. Arkansas agritourism business Operators: Who they are, how they communicate, what they want to learn, and how they want to learn it. Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists Agricultural Communications Section, Mobile, AL. Available on-online: http://agnews.tamu.edu/saas/ Morris, Douglas E., Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association Meetings, June 2010, Atlantic City, NJ, New England Firms Willingness to Hire Retirees. Skidmore, M., Scorsone, E. A. 2010. "Causes and Consequences of Fiscal Stress in Michigan Municipalities". Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Tax Policy Center, May 20. Skidmore, M., Scorsone, E. A. 2010. "Causes and Consequences of Fiscal Stress in Michigan Municipalities". University of Nevada-Reno, May 14. Skidmore, M., Reese, L., Kang, S. 2010. "Property Taxation, Education Finance Reform, and Tax Base Growth". Mid-continent Regional Science Association, June 4. Skidmore, M, Reese, L, Kang, S. 2010. "Property Taxation, Education Finance Reform and Tax Base Erosion". Western Regional Science Association, Sedona, Arizona, February 22. Stenberg, P., "The Challenge and Rewards of Broadband Access for Rural America", presentation at Brookings Institution Forum on the National Broadband Plan, March 17, 2010, Washington, DC. Stenberg, P., Morehart, M., "The Internet in Business Activities of Spatially Dispersed Economic Actors", paper presented at Southern Regional Science Association meetings, March 2010, Arlington, VA. Stenberg, P., "Rural Broadband Use and the Digital Economy", plenary presentation at the Southern Region Convening, May 11-12, 2010, Charlotte, NC. Stenberg, P., "Farm Businesses, the Digital Economy, and High-Speed Access to the Internet", plenary/keynote presentation at the 11th International Conference: Global Economy, Nitra, Slovak Republic, May 2010. Swindall, Devin and David W. Hughes. The Determinants of Entrepreneurial Income in South Carolina. Paper presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Southern Regional Science Association, Arlington, VA March 25-27, 2010. Yu, L. and G. Artz. Migration and Rural Entrepreneurship. Presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association annual meetings, Milwaukee, WI, July 26-28, 2009. Technical Reports and Staff Papers Abel, Jaison, Ishita Day and Todd Gabe. Productivity and the Density of Human Capital. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Staff Report 440. March 2010. Deller, Steven C. 2010. A Trade Area Analysis of Wisconsin Counties: An Update for 2009. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Miscellaneous Staff Paper No. 550 University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension. (October). Deller, Steven C. Maher, Craig and Kovari, John. 2010. The Fiscal Health of Wisconsin Counties: An Analysis of Primary and Secondary Data. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Paper No. 552. University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension. (October). Stewart, Jennifer, Deller, Steven C. and Ken Schroeder. 2010. The Economics of Water Dependent Industries in Portage County. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Paper No. 555 University of Wisconsin  Madison/Extension (November). Deller, Steven C. 2010. Economic Impact of Foreign Exports on the Wisconsin Economy. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Paper No. 546 University of Wisconsin  Madison/Extension (November). Dickes, Lori R. David Lamie, and Brian Whitacre. 2010. The Struggle for Broadband in Rural America. Choices 25(4). Available online: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/article.php?article=156 Gabe, Todd. Economic Impact of Harbor House. Report prepared through the University of Maine, Knowledge Transfer Alliance (KTA) for Harbor House. September 2010. Gabe, Todd. Economic Impact of Harbor House. Report prepared through the University of Maine, Knowledge Transfer Alliance (KTA) for Harbor House. September 2010. Gabe, Todd. Statewide Economic Impact of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, 2010-2015. Report prepared through the University of Maine, Knowledge Transfer Alliance (KTA) for Bigelow Laboratory. September 2010. Gabe, Todd, Jaison Abel, Adrienne Ross and Kevin Stolarick. Knowledge in Cities. University of Toronto, Martin Prosperity Institute, Working Paper 2010-MPIWI-013, September 2010. Gabe, Todd. Statewide Economic Contribution of a Proposed Resort Casino in Oxford Maine. School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 590, August 2010. Gabe, Todd and Bernardita Silva. Socioeconomic Profile of Native Americans in Maine. School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 587, June 2010. Gabe, Todd M. and James McConnon. Economic Impacts of Year-Round Residents on Mount Desert Island, Maine. School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 586, March 2010. Gabe, Todd M. Beyond Educational Attainment: Knowledge-Based Investments to Enhance a Regions Human Capital and Resident Earnings. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Working Paper WP10TG1, February 2010. Gabe, Todd and Mario Teisl. Effects of Cellular Telephone Warning Labels (LD 1706) on Maine Retailers. School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 584, February 2010. Gabe, Todd. Economic Contribution of the Proposed SMCC Mid-Coast Campus and Maine Advanced Technology & Engineering Campus (MATEC). School of Economics, University of Maine, Staff Paper 582, January 2010. Kuejai(Nan) Jungjaturapit, Chad Hart, and Daniel Otto, Economic Analysis of Butanol as an Alternative Biofuel Working paper 2010 Lake, Amy, Sara Alva Lizarraga, Dennis Robinson, and Tom Johnson. 2009. Northeast Region Baseline Report: 2006-2016. Report R-2009-02, Community Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri. April. Lucht, Jill, Tom Johnson, Dennis Robinson, Tracy Greever-Rice, and Amy Lake. 2009. City of Columbia Peer Community Comparison and Scenario Report: 2005-2015. Report R-2009-03, Community Policy Analysis Center, University of Missouri. June. Maher, Craig, Deller, Steven C. and Kovari, John. 2011. How Stressed are Wisconsin Cities and Villages? Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Staff Paper No. 557. University of Wisconsin  Madison/Extension (February). Otto, Daniel, Economic Importance of Snowmobiling in Iowa, Dec. 2010. ECON staff report. Otto, Daniel, Consumers, Vendors, and the Economic Importance of Iowa Farmers Markets: An Economic Impact Survey Analysis, Jan. 2010 ECON staff report. Qiye Sun, Chad Hart and Daniel Otto, The Value of CO2 in the Ethanol Industry, Working paper, 2010. Phillips, M. and D. Thilmany-McFadden. Colorado State University Ag and Resource Economics Extension Fact Sheet EDR 10-02. Selling Local: Campaigns to Encourage Local Consumerism. July 2010. 8 pp. Popp, J., N. Kemper, W. Miller, K. McGraw and K. Karr. 2010. Economic Contribution of the Agricultural Sector to the Arkansas Economy in 2008. Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, Fayetteville, AR. Published at: http://division.uaex.edu. Powell, S., M. Phillips and D. Thilmany. A Closer Look at Farm Operators. Report to the Northern Colorado Food Assessment. Fall 2010 Skidmore, Mark, Bradshaw, Nicole. 2010. Taxes and Growth: A Review of the Evidence, Show-Me Institute Policy Study Report, 23. Sullins, M. and D. Thilmany. Health Outcomes. Report to the Northern Colorado Food Assessment. Fall 2010. Sullins, M., M. Sloan, M. Phillips and D. Thilmany. Food Security and Access in Northern Colorado. Report to the Northern Colorado Food Assessment. Fall 2010 Thilmany, D., A. Gunter and C. Thomas. Food Markets and Buyers. Report to the Northern Colorado Food Assessment. Fall 2010 Thilmany, D. and C. Thomas. Food Consumers. Report to the Northern Colorado Food Assessment. Fall 2010 Tickamyer, Ann R. and Debra A. Henderson. 2010. Devolution, Social Exclusion, and Spatial Inequality in U.S. Welfare Provision Pp. 41-60 in Paul Milbourne (ed.) Welfare Reform in Rural Places: Comparative Perspectives, Research in Rural Sociology and Development v. 15. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Group. Toya, Hideki, Skidmore, Mark. 2010. Natural Disaster Impacts and Fiscal Decentralization, CESifo Forum, 2. Weinstein, Amanda and Mark D. Partridge. Making the Green Economy Work for Ohio. Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy Summary Report, December 2010. Available at: www.aede.osu.edu/programs/Swank. 32 pages. Weinstein, Amanda L., Mark D. Partridge, and J. Clay Francis. 2010. Green Policies, Climate Change, and New Jobs: Separating Fact From Fiction. The Exurban Change Project and Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy Summary Report, June 2010. Available at: www.aede.osu.edu/programs/Swank. 29 pages. Whitacre, Brian. 2010. Rural Broadband Availability and Adoption in Oklahoma. Choices 25(4). Available online: http://www.choicesmagazine.org/magazine/article.php?article=160 Whitacre, Brian, Shannon Ferrell, and J.C. Hobbs. E-commerce and Sales Tax: What You Collect Depends on Where You Ship. Oklahoma State University Extension Fact Sheet AGEC-1022, March 2010, 4pp. Wojan, T., and D. M. Lambert. 2010. Half of Farm Expenditures Are Spent Locally. Amber Waves, June 2010: 7.