Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

At the annual meeting, general business was quickly conducted, including acknowledgements, approval of previous minutes, elections and plans for future meetings. Most of the meeting time was spent discussing new business, including plans to propose a new multistate project. The discussion was framed in terms of the current four project objectives. Participants discussed new research ideas and extensions of work ongoing or completed as part of this project. Opportunities for regional collaboration, learning from other states and regional projects, and cross-state themes and topics were explored. A number of suggestions for new project objectives were also discussed. A proposal was made to focus on two overall objectives: understanding rural economic change and policies that affect change in rural communities. Four themes will be developed within the two objectives: labor markets, industry, community development and quality of life, and governance. Theme leaders were chosen and each leader will draft a section of the new proposal. Participants identified which theme(s) they will work on. Two research paper sessions were also held in which six research papers were presented and formally discussed. The topics included: spatial distribution of farm payments and farm structure, economic benefits of highway investment, innovative activity in rural areas, worker retention and wage progression in the rural health care sector, decomposition of sources of changes in U.S. salaries and wages, and rural brain drain. Research papers presented in related sessions included topics such as job satisfaction in horticulture, local revenue growth restrictions, amenities and migration, and community development indicators. Detailed meeting minutes are attached.

Objective 1: To better understand the emerging opportunities and threats to the economic structure of non-metropolitan communities arising from forces that change the size or structure of rural markets. We focus on electronic commerce, financial liberalization, and health care. Research focused on both farm and off-farm structural changes in rural economies. For example, a number of researchers focused on value-added agriculture. One study analyzed the economic importance of value-added agriculture in terms of employment in rural economies and the changes over time and space with implications with respect to value-added agriculture's use as an economic growth strategy. This study examined regional differences and changes in value-added agriculture employment for regions of the country using traditional regional economic and econometric techniques. Another effort focused on testing a new model (developed in previous years in conjunction with the NE 1011 project) of the location choices and input market areas of agro-industrial plants, establishments that add value to agriculture. The hypotheses identified included that these kinds of plants will concentrate or co-locate when the cost of transporting one unit of the processed product relative to the costs of transporting enough units of inputs to produce one unit of output are high, and will disperse otherwise. The model was tested using data on seven agro-industries at the NAICS six-digit level of disaggregation that have at least one ubiquitously supplied farm product input (corn, wheat, barley, corn, soybeans, sugar beets, or milk) and which span the full range of agro-industry types "supply-oriented," "footloose," or "demand-oriented." The statistical analysis of the model provided significant evidence in support of the hypotheses implied by the new model of agro-industrial plant location. In the U.S. these types of plants systematically display location patterns that are concentrated, co-located, or dispersed, depending on relative transport costs. This research is the first direct test of establishment location theory, and it has significant impact potential to help guide rural development policy. Existing empirical models of establishment location are of the "hedonic" type, in which existing plants are assumed to be on a site because of the characteristics of the site. The new research has made it clear why most (97%) of the establishments engaged in off-farm "value-added agriculture" in the U.S. are in cities and urban areas, not in rural places. Work continues on direct marketing and local food systems, focusing on their connections to increasing value-added activities by farmers and ranchers, as well as analyzing consumer interest in Colorado food products. The primary focus recently has been on natural meat marketing strategies based on consumer segmentation, agritourism, and studies of how different agricultural portfolios may affect the financial performance of Western US counties. An economic impact analysis of Colorado's wine industry, including tourism and marketing aspects, was initiated. Research for the wine industry will be used to support continuance of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, guide future tourism promotion efforts by the industry and Western slope communities and motivate discussions with the Colorado tourism development Board to secure funding for agricultural-based tourism enterprises. CSU researchers are also finishing up a series of articles and book on the economics of animal disease,which looks at economy wide effects of animal disease management, potential outbreaks and policies governing these matters. Participation on a Farm Foundation Future of Animal Agriculture project in this area may lead to further research in the future. Animal health economic impact work has a more indirect impact on rural community development, but given the large dependence of many Colorado counties on livestock industries, understanding potential outcomes from outbreaks is essential. Research on forest product processing, a value-added industry that is important to rural communities in many states, pursued two broad goals. One was to determine what markets Pennsylvania hardwood processors currently access, how these processors see their markets changing, and how they view their future. The second objective was to determine the work force needs of the industry if it is to respond to the increasingly competitive environment and become more productive and efficient. A survey of hardwood processing firms in Pennsylvania and surrounding states was undertaken. Eighty-eight percent of hardwood processors indicated that they had made changes in what they produced. The main reasons for changes was demand, output-related reasons, actions by businesses to increase the supply of their products, and changes in prices of raw material, purchase of new equipment or machinery, and finding labor. Geographic markets have changed as a result of business climate change, population shift, new construction, and plant closing. Imports and foreign competition, including specific mention of China, made up 12.7 percent of the responses to why geographic markets had changed, while an equal percentage of responses mentioned domestic competition, including Amish and other specifically-mentioned competition. Overall, 76 percent of respondents had invested in new technology in the last five years. Investment in new technology required retraining in the areas of software or computer training, procedures, safety, and machine specific training for about 60 percent of all businesses. The results are to be used by state legislature and regional workforce investment boards to help determine workforce training programs in wood products cluster. With respect to land use, work continued on the effects of farmland conversion, with a focus on explaining the change in cropland. The relative overall stability was compared with the changes occurring within metropolitan versus non-metropolitan areas. A USDA/ERS policy brief was submitted for posting on the ERS website, summarizing this work on farmland change across the US for the period 1949-1997. Work also focused on the development of a GIS-based interactive marketing tool which farmers could use to better define markets for their products. With respect to the State of New York, this tool permits interactive mapping of various demographic and psychographic information that the producer feels is important to potential customers for his product(s). Early testing of the systems has yielded positive and encouraging results. The tool will be finished in 2006 and deployed more widely. It is hoped that this marketing tool can help increase farmer profits. The marketing tool for farmers has been demonstrated to representatives of the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, to Cooperative Extension agents, members of the Direct Marketing Association of New York and other interested groups. One of the emerging opportunities for farm-led rural economic development is the biofuel industry. An analysis was completed of industrial demand for pinion-juniper biomass to support rural bio-fuel industry in northeastern Nevada. This study was presented to U.S. Forest Service. The state-level locational factors for biotechnology firms was also investigated using an instrumental variable econometric estimation technique. A cluster economic development and feasibility analysis was also completed for a national wild horse and burro interpretative center in Lyon County, Nevada. The analysis investigated linkages of the national center into the Reno Tourism Industry Cluster and also estimated factors to increase adoption rates of wild horses. The study was presented to Lyon County Commissioners and to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The City of Sparks, Nevada has used the cluster industrial targeting study in its economic development program. With respect to rural health care, researchers concluded a health sector impact analysis which has been used by rural hospitals in Nevada considering Critical Access hospital (CAH) designation. They also completed a feasibility analysis a possible kidney dialysis center in Humboldt County, Nevada. Two critical dimensions of how rural communities define their economic viability were investigated: the rural health network and the rural public education network. Documented evidence from the rural health study reinforces the perception that rural health markets in counties dominated by federal lands are less economically viable and offer a less sophisticated mix of health care services--controlling for other factors relevant in a rural context. This is critical to federal land managers and policymakers who continue to underinvest in maintaining critical social networks that will ensure the viability of rural communities. Research on the public education network is still in the formative stages but much of the preliminary work to document the diversity of public education models used in a rural context has been completed. This work has already impacted the dialog of federal policymakers who work in states and represent the interests of states where federal lands dominate the landscape. With respect to e-commerce, a study was completed on the Internet and rural economies. The study examined the economics of communication and information service delivery and on-line economic activities such as e-commerce. An NE 1011 researcher was an invited to a Chicago Federal Reserve Bank conference where he spoke about modern telecommunications in rural areas. He also participated in the development of a survey of 18,000 farms that addresses how much economic activity (purchases and sales) farm operators conduct through the Internet. He contributed to a new "briefing room" website about rural telecommunications (see http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/telecom/). Objective 2: To determine the root causes of changes in rural labor markets, the employment and demographic growth that are likely to occur in the future, and the degree to which these factors are modified by workforce development policies. With growing farm sizes, retaining and motivating employees has become increasingly important in U.S. agriculture. One factor considered paramount in employee retention and motivation is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is likely the most studied work-related attitude (in all industries), and is assumed to influence a variety of behaviors that impact productivity. The job satisfaction of agricultural employees was analyzed using Herzberg's theory, which is broadly employed in management practice of large organizations. Typically, job satisfaction is modeled as a set of components. Components of job satisfaction empirically relevant to horticultural employees were family business values, achievement, recognition, work itself, involvement, personal life, interpersonal relationships, job security, supervision, working conditions, organization, safety, compensation, and information. An in-depth analysis of the interviews with supervisory personnel is currently under way. An analysis of data from surveys and interviews in nine North Dakota communities was completed. Jobs associated with new employers were generally taken by persons already living in the area. Thus, new employers served to stabilize the local economy and population, rather than stimulating substantial in-migration. The results were summarized in an article that has been published in Great Plains Research. The impact of the project includes increased economic information for national, state, and local decision makers concerning the effects of economic development initiatives in rural communities. Specifically, this information can be useful when decisions are made regarding alternative uses of state and local resources to support development efforts. NE 1011 researchers collaborated on an examination of a number of factors thought to be related to hunger and poverty in Oregon and nationally, using both Oregon and national data. Forty years ago in a Quarterly Journal of Economics article entitled "Trickling Down: The Relationship Between Economic Growth and the Extent of Poverty Among American Families", W. Locke Anderson concluded that for some families (including farm families and families headed by a woman) aggregate income growth "simply does not trickle down directly enough to be counted upon to reduce poverty". This "trickle down" hypothesis spawned a debate about the effects of job and income growth on poverty at the national, state and local levels. With better data and more sophisticated econometric techniques, NE 1011 researchers have concluded that, in some places and under some conditions, local job growth may in fact benefit low income workers and reduce poverty rates, and that this effect may be stronger in urban areas. Their research findings suggest that job growth speeds poverty reduction nationally, and that high housing costs are positively related to food insecurity among low-income families in Oregon. Even more compellingly, the realities of poverty (that most poor adults work) and policy (that antipoverty policy is becoming more work-oriented, community-context-dependent, and tailored to community needs by local governments and nongovernmental intermediaries) make strengthening community capacity and local institutions increasingly important in poverty reduction efforts. The higher incidence of working poverty in rural America and the evidence that current antipoverty policies are less effective in rural areas give added urgency to the task of crafting community-based policies that strengthen community capacity and local institutions and that lead to investments that increase labor demand and enhance worker productivity in rural places. An increasingly important component of the nation's antipoverty policy is child care assistance, which provides support to low-income working families for whom child care costs might otherwise consume a sizeable portion of the family budget. NE 1011 researchers tracked the employment and earnings of families who received child care assistance and found average earnings gains of about $2,000 over a three-year period. The pattern of employment by industry stayed fairly constant over the three years, with differences in industry patterns in rural versus urban counties. Parents working in or moving into jobs in the health care sector had some of the highest average earnings increases. A second study examined the relationship between public expenditures on child care assistance and the average price of child care in Minnesota counties. The first phase of research on the changing structure of the rural economy was completed. This research extended the procedure developed by NE 1011 researchers of decomposing the change in real wages over time into the positive and negative components of the wage and industry effects. The new approach identifies the sectors of the economy that are systematically (as opposed to randomly) responsible for good and bad wages and jobs. The new approach has been applied to the Mountain West region. It is used to measure the extent to which national economic trends in trade and productivity appear in this (or any other) region by sector. In addition, that research is complemented with an analysis of inequality which measures whether wages across sectors are converging or not. The findings include that average real wages in the U.S. increased six percent between 1978 and 1998. The eleven percent growth in wages in professional service sectors along with the one percent wage divergence combine to indicate that the Romer and Lucas productivity theory predominated the U.S. economy during this period. The minus four percent decrease in wages from the declining share of employment in the goods manufacturing sector along with a minus one percent decline in wage inequality are consistent with the Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory and represents a secondary source of change. This information can help set priorities for targeted research and development programs. By using both the wage inequality and the wage index information, various theories of economic development can be tested. These tests can help suggest future successful strategies based on past performance. Research was also conducted to determine the extent to which county employment growth divided between current residents, in-migrants, and (non-resident) commuters. Researchers at North Carolina State and the University of Minnesota employed a labor market model that was developed in the preceding Hatch Project. The model explicitly accounts for movements of workers across county lines - in conjunction with labor market adjustments that occur within a county - when an exogenous labor demand shock takes place. The model was estimated using 1990 and 2000 county-level data for a number of different states in the south and midwest. Estimation results are consistent with a priori expectations concerning the impact of relative wages, relative housing prices and employment shocks on commuting and unemployment. In the southern region (13 states), the findings show that between 60 and 70 percent of local labor market adjustment to new employment opportunities during the 1990s was accounted for by changes in commuting patterns, and the remainder (30 to 40 percent) was accounted for by labor force growth (primarily taking the form of in-migration). It is concluded from this that the fiscal impacts of employment growth associated with changes in residential demands for publicly provided services and residential provision of property tax revenues will be substantially smaller than is commonly supposed. Significant rural-urban differences were also found to exist. A relatively greater fraction of new jobs in metro counties are filled by (non-resident) in-commuters than is the case for rural counties, while employment growth in rural counties appears to be accommodated to a relatively greater degree by reductions in out-commuting. Evidence is also presented indicating that labor force growth (and, by extension, population growth and residential development) in rural counties is substantially more sensitive to employment growth in nearby counties than is the case for urban counties. Thus, while employment growth in rural counties may lead to smaller fiscal impacts than is often supposed, employment growth in nearby counties represents an important countervailing factor that also tends to be overlooked in economic and fiscal impact analyses. These results have been published in an academic journal and additionally, used to inform an article on the local economic impacts of of Wal-Mart in the NC State Economist. NE 1011 research has continued on how to identify clusters of innovation or regional innovation systems ("RIS") in the 13 southern states. NE 1011 researchers at Clemson measured innovative capacity and activity in metro areas using eighteen indicators. Southern metro areas were grouped into six categories (Outliers, High, College towns, Medium, Below Average, and Low) based on a cluster analysis of metro innovation characteristics. They found that the RIS in the South (the Outlier, High, and College Town groupings) exhibited significantly more rapid growth (rates) in employment, population and earnings per worker than the remaining metro groups. Innovative activity in metro areas had little impact on economic development in nearby nonmetro counties. Neither the growth rates of earnings nor employment in nonmetro counties was strongly associated with proximity to an RIS. In addition, tests of spatial correlation found little association between 1990-99 patent activity in metro areas (a proxy for innovation) and the level of patent activity in proximate nonmetro counties. These research findings indicate that innovative activity had limited spatial spillovers, and nonmetro counties cannot rely on innovation in nearby metro areas to stimulate nonmetro growth. The impact of this research is that it is being used to help metropolitan areas identify gaps or shortcomings in their innovative capacity or environment. The elimination of shortcomings will increase the competitiveness of South Carolina metropolitan areas for innovative activity and the resulting new business spin-offs. The research on regional innovation systems was presented to the public at a conference titled "A Conversation on the South Carolina Economy" sponsored by the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness. Objective 3: To understand the effects of public policy on rural areas and rural industries. A fiscal impact model, using techniques developed through the collaboration with numerous NE 1011 members across the country, was prepared for counties in their own state. The model relies on both cross-sectional and time-series data. The county-level fiscal impact model has been applied to estimate the impacts from exogenous changes on county fiscal accounts. The fiscal model is currently being expanded to incorporate school district and city fiscal impacts. A data base was compiled using the 2002 Census of Governments that compares all 50 states on major state and local taxes and expenditures. The Missouri Municipal League and the Missouri Association of Counties contracted with NE 1011 researchers to estimate the impacts of the August, 2004, sales tax holiday on state and local sales tax revenues. To make reporting easier for merchants, the sales information during the holiday is not reported separately to the state, so it must be estimated. NE 1011 researchers estimated the impact on state and local sales tax revenues of the 2004 sales tax holiday. It is estimated that tax revenues fell $18 million that weekend.The associations used the study during the legislative debate on whether to renew the holiday and the conditions for participation by local governments. The study of the sales tax holiday generated press interviews and newspaper articles. Whether a new residential development is a contributor to or a drain upon the local government's budget depends on the development's net fiscal impact - the difference between the revenues flowing from the development and the costs of providing services to new residents. NE 1011 researchers determined the net fiscal impact of residential development in two Minnesota regions. The study concluded that changing the location and density of new residential development within a region changes the impact of the development on local governments' budgets. In addition, development that spans jurisdictions can have differing effects on the budgets of those jurisdictions. Researchers also analyzed the effects of a revenue-neutral replacement of the current Minnesota Corporate Franchise Tax (CFT) and minimum fee with a consumption-type Business Activities Tax (BAT) on all firms doing business in Minnesota for the Legislative Coordinating Commission. The BAT is a tax on the value-added of all firms, regardless of organizational form, with full expensing for purchases of depreciable capital assets. The study estimated that replacing 1999 corporate franchise tax and minimum fee revenues with a broad-based BAT on all firms doing business in Minnesota would have required a BAT rate of 0.71 percent. The study also found that a BAT that is revenue-neutral for corporations only would require a rate on those taxpayers of 1.58%, and allowing each taxpayer to exempt the first $100,000 of its BAT base is estimated to raise the required revenue-neutral BAT rate to 0.86%. Concerning local public finance, in particular local bond issues, NE 1011 researchers were asked to review the methodology of a study by the State Auditor on local practices for issuing bonds. The study showed that by not auctioning their bonds, local governments are paying .25 to .5% points more interest. The potential impact is that local governments may lower their interest rates on bond issues if they change the practices under which they issue bonds. Objective 4: To identify community characteristics associated with viable and healthy rural communities and investigate policy alternatives to enhance these characteristics. In some areas of the country, rural decline is the problem. In others, the challenge for rural communities is how to ensure their quality of life and sustain growth. For example, many counties in North Carolina are experiencing unprecedented rates of residential and commercial development. This is particularly true of counties located in and around fast-growing urban centers. The willingness of workers to commute ever greater distances has meant that more and more urban workers are living ever farther from where they work. This has intensified pressures to convert the open spaces, forest, and farm land of nearby rural counties to higher density residential and commercial land uses. This phenomenon bears significant consequences for the county governments that provide - and must pay for - essential public services needed to support that growth. An important element of public debate over appropriate land use policies is whether or not increased local government expenditures on community services needed to accommodate residential and commercial development exceed the contribution of that development to the local revenue base. Research by NE 1011 members has quantified the contribution to local government revenues of various types of land uses (residential, commercial/industrial, and agricultural), and the demands on local government financial resources of those same land uses. These "snapshots" of current revenues and expenditures allow an assessment of the costs and benefits of different land uses from the perspective of local government finance. Studies have revealed the following strong tendencies: (1) The value of public services provided to residential land uses far exceed the property taxes and other revenues that they contribute to the county budget. This finding contrasts with claims that are sometimes made that residential development is a boon to county finances due to its expansion of the property tax base. It would appear that the very large footprint of education and human services expenditures in the overall county budget plays a dominant role in explaining this phenomenon. (2) The contribution of revenues from commercial and industrial land uses far exceeds the value of services that those land uses receive from county coffers. Essentially, this means that the business sector subsidizes the residential sector from the perspective of local public finance. (3) Despite being taxed on the basis of use value (as opposed to market value), farm and forest land uses contribute more in tax revenues than they get back in publicly provided services. It is important to bear in mind that there is nothing sacred about an exact balance between revenues and expenditures associated with a particular land use, even when balancing the local budget is an overriding priority. Indeed, one of the primary functions of a local government is to redistribute local financial resources such that services desired by citizens are supplied, even when those services cannot pay for themselves. Determining the optimal distribution of those resources is a public policy issue to be resolved in the political arena. A semi-survey input-output model of Eureka County, Nevada, was completed and results presented to Eureka County Commissioners. The study was used by Eureka County for rangeland fire mitigation estimates. Also, researchers found substantial impacts of evasive weeds on a recreational county. If efforts are not taken to eradicate these evasive weeds, rural counties will realize losses in economic activity due to lower tourism. The economic and fiscal impact model developed by a collaboration of NE 1011 researchers in many states has recently been applied to motivate public support of an innovative new rural industry in Texas. The model was used to estimate the net fiscal benefits of a project and compare them to the incentives requested by the firm. In the case of a wind electrical generation project, the net fiscal benefits appeared much larger than the incentives requested. The study was accepted by both the community and company and used in the original negotiation for incentives and also in the re-negotiation. The incentives were offered to the firm. The NE 1011 researchers also did a case study to determine if the incentives were successful and why. The conclusion is that the package was successful because the community wrote performance measures into the contract and enforced them when the measures were not met. Another factor was the executive director of the local chamber who worked to find a win-win solution for the firm and the community when the package was re-negotiated. That research has been very influential in supporting this kind of economic development. Several additional wind farms have been built and all transmission lines to the area are at capacity. Plans are in the works to build more transmission lines and more wind farms. The wind farms have created well paying repair jobs in the region. Taking a broad view, rural sociologists in NE 1011 focused on understanding how the economic policies of the European economic union (EU) has affected economic development across Europe. The objective of this wider perspective was to gain an understanding of how regional fiscal policies of a different nature than those of New York State, for example, affect the dependent subunits. In the EU case, of course, the members are nations rather than counties. Of particular interest was whether the EU's fiscal policies have had a differential affect on (1) established members, (2) recently admitted members to the EU and (3)those countries still in process of joining the EU (pre-accession nations). Using various measures of economic development available from the World Bank, CIA Factbook, Freedom House and other sources, the researchers established the extent of the existing comparative economic development using measures like GDP per capita. The different levels of GDP/capita were modeled with spatial regression procedures, with foreign direct investment, educational level, age structure, extent of computer technology, EU policy, etc. as predictors. Spatial autocorrelation was present and adjusted for in the analysis. The results of this investigation were presented at several conferences. Work was also completed on the topic of the determinants of community development and its interface with coastal land use issues. Results show how communities can respond to coastal hazards in the face of reduced federal aid, and still maintain their recreational beach quality and their prospects for economic devolvement. The findings are based upon surveys conducted in two costal counties, one metropolitan and the other nonmetro. Between these two cases the density of development is quite different, as are the characteristics of the visitors. In both settings it was determined that two different types of coastal erosion management passed a benefit-cost test. Furthermore, it was determined that erosion management can be financed by user fees charged to the visitors. Linkages with colleagues in NE-1011 have facilitated the development of a web site, www.georgiastats.uga.edu. Users of this website can conduct a shift-share analysis of employment changes for any group of counties in the United States, for any of the years between 1990 and 2004. The site's purpose is to facilitate economic development by improving the information base available to decision makers in local government, schools and businesses. Finally, in 2005 a number of collaborating NE 1011 researchers completed phase one of a multi-state study of local social capital. To support rural development, the United States and other countries actively encourage local organizational capacity building. This project demonstrated how network analysis methods can be used to describe, measure, and analyze community capacity for self-improvement. Five research teams in four states (IA, OH, OK, and OR) and two disciplines, Economics and Sociology, used a common survey approach to collect primary data about exchanges of money, information, and political support between civic, social, public, and private entities in a total of 58 small communities (about 12 in each state). The network data was augmented with economic, demographic, fiscal, and geographic data. The NE 1011 researchers analyzed the network data by applying existing social network analysis techniques and Keystone Sector Identification techniques (developed previously by an NE 1011 member) to quantify the community network structures. This phase of analysis resulted in the finding that every community has a different network pattern. Next, they statistically analyzed the network patterns with respect to their secondary characteristics, local policy, and economic outcomes. The main research findings to date include that (i) community network structures differ with respect to size (population), (ii) no "best" structure with respect to economic outcomes was found, (iii) the new network approaches do measure social capital, and are particularly useful for distinguishing bridging from bonding social capital; and (iv) local policy choices, in particular, majority votes for local option sales taxation (LOSTs) may be related to community network characteristics. The community network analysis activity by NE 1011 researchers has collected the world's first known cross-section data on community networks, and has made it available to the research public for analysis and further basic research. It has and will continue to contribute to our ability to understand how societies can effectively organize themselves or why they may fail to organize themselves. The field of inquiry into social networks has been stymied by two problems. One, there was no cross-section data, so all community analyses were essentially one-off, "case studies" with no statistical basis for claims that such studies might be generally applicable or informative. The NE-1011 researchers have filled that critical gap by providing the cross-section survey data. Two, there is no satisfactory method for estimating networks. The existing statistical approaches rely on the assumption that the relationship between any two entities in a network is independent of the relationships between other entities. That assumption contradicts our key hypothesis that relationships are not just bilateral, but that we relate to others precisely because of their relations with third-, fourth-, and more distantly tied others. Now that we have contributed this cross-section survey data, social scientists and statisticians can begin to develop more appropriate statistical approaches for estimating networks.

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Davis, Elizabeth E. and Marcie Jefferys. Still Working in Minnesta? Follow-up Study on Parents' Employment and Earnings in the Child Care Assistance Program. Minnesota Child Care Policy Research Partnership. December 2005. DeVuyst, Cheryl S., F. Larry Leistritz, and Angela Schepp. 2005. "Rural Economic Development Initiatives: Comparing Socioeconomic Impacts," Great Plains Research 15: 69-100. Ebel, Robert, and Laura Kalambokidis. State Value-Added Tax in The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, ed. Joseph Cordes, Jane Gravelle, and Robert Ebel, Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press (October 2005). Eiswerth, Mark E., Tim D. Darden, Wayne S. Johnson, Jeanmarie Agapoff, and Thomas R. Harris. "Input-Output Modeling, Outdoor Recreation, and the Economic Impacts of Weeds", Weed Science, 53(2005): 130-137. Evans, Garen and Judith I. Stallmann. "Chapter 11: SAFESIM: The Small Area Fiscal Estimation Simulator." in Daniel Otto, Steven Deller, and Thomas G. Johnson (eds,) Community Policy Analysis Modeling. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press. 2005. Fadali, Betsy and Thomas R. Harris, "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Humboldt County: Analysis of Fiscal Trends: Part V", March 2005, UCED 2004/05-24. Fadali, Betsy and Thomas R. Harris. Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development strategy (CEDS) for Humboldt County: Winnemucca Study Area and Rest of Humboldt County Study Area: Part VI, March 2005, UCED 2004/05-25. Fadali, Betsy, Thomas R. Harris, Kynda Curtis, Robert Dick, and Simona Blazas. "Analysis of Potential Demands of Pinyon-Juniper Resources in Lincoln and White Pine Counties", UCED 2005/06-09, December 2005. Fadali, Elizabeth, William W. Riggs, and Thomas R. Harris. "Updated Economic Linkages in the Economy of Eureka County", UCED 2005/06-05. Francis, J. and Magri, A. 2005. A Comparison of Morans I in GeoDA and ArcGIS 9.x. Presentation to the Rural Sociological Society, Tampa, FL. August, 2005. Fuduric, Joseph A., David L. Barkley, and Mark S. Henry. 2005. Marketing Wild Caught South Carolina Shrimp: Lessons Learned From Agricultural Niche Marketing Programs. REDRL Research Report 01-2005-01, Regional Economic Development Research Laboratory, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, January. Harris, Thomas R., Jeffrey E. Englin, James R. Nelson, Lindy Widner, and Janet Lutz. "Feasibility Analysis of the Construction and operation of the Proposed National Wild Horse and Burro Interpretative Center", UCED 2005/06-07, September 2005. Harris, Thomas R. and Elizabeth Fadali. "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Lyon County: Part I", UCED 2005/06-02, May 2005. Harris, Thomas R., Alison Davis, Elizabeth Fadali, Gaylene Nevers, Joan Wright, Simona Balazs and Slavica Karastankovic. "Identifying the Economic Drivers and Import Substitution Opportunities for the Western Nevada Study Area with Application to the City of Sparks", UCED 2005/06-03, June 2005 Harris, Thomas R. and Robert Dick. "Preliminary Analysis of Rural Business Incubators, Small Diameter Wood Supplies, and Potential for Small Diameter Wood Incubator in the State of Nevada", UCED 2005/06-04, June 2005. Harris, Thomas R. Betsy Fadali, and Jeffrey Hardcastle. "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Humboldt County: Current and Future Employment, Output, and Occupation Forecasts: Part IV", March 2005, UCED 2004/05-23. Harris, Thomas R., Slavica Karastankovic, and Elizabeth Fadali. "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Humboldt County: General Trends: Part I." March 2005, UCED 2004/05-20. Henry, Mark S., David L. Barkley, and Steven C. Deller. Scenario Development in Community Policy Analysis Models: When is a Cost Actually a Benefit? In Community Policy Analysis Modeling. Edited by T. G. Johnson, D. M. Otto, and S. C. Deller. Ames, Iowa: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Henry, Mark S., David L. Barkley, Ferdinand Vinuya and Brian Gantt. 2005. Options For Processing Shrimp Landed in South Carolina. REDRL Research Report 01-2005-02, Regional Economic Development Research Laboratory, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, January. Henry, Mark S., Wilder N. Ferreira, and David L. Barkley. 2005. Costs and Returns Analysis for South Carolina Shrimp Trawlers, and Cost and Returns Excel Spreadsheet, REDRL Research Report 03-2005-01, Regional Economic Development Research Laboratory, Clemson University, Clemson, SC. Kalambokidis, Laura, and Robert Patton. Residential Development Impacts in Two Minnesota Regions. CURA Reporter, vol. 35, no. 2, (Spring 2005): 11-13. Kalambokidis, Laura, and Andrew Reschovsky. States' Responses to the Budget Shortfalls of 2001-04. Challenge: The Magazine of Economics Affairs 88, 1 (Jan/Feb 2005): 76-93. Kalambokidis, Laura. A Business Activities Tax for Minnesota: A Report prepared for the Legislative Coordinating Commission. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Department of Revenue (October 2005). Kalambokidis, Laura. Book review of The Property Tax, Land Use and Land Use Regulation, by Dick Netzer. Journal of Regional Science 45, 2 (May 2005): 430-432. Kress, G., P. Watson and D. Thilmany. The Economic Contributions of Colorados Wine Industry. Project report to the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board and Rocky Mountain Vintners and Viticulturalists Association. December 2005. Kriesel, W., Landry, C. and Keeler, A.G. "Coastal Erosion Management from a Community Economics Perspective: The Feasibility and Efficiency of User Fees." Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 37(2): 376-88. 2005. Magri, A and Francis, J. 2005. Evaluation of Selected Spatial Statistical Tools in ArcGIS 9.x. Presentation to the NYS GIS Conference. Rochester, NY. November, 2005. Mugera, A.W., Bitsch, V. 2005. Labor on dairy farms: A resource-based perspective with evidence from case studies. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 8(July, 3):79-98. Nevers, Gaylene, Thomas R. Harris, and Elizabeth Fadali. "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Humboldt County: Economic Base and Change: Part III", March 2005, UCED 2004/05-22. Niell, Rebecca, Thomas R. Harris, Elizabeth Fadali, and Alexis Mann. "Analysis of Socio-Economic Data and Trends for Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Humboldt County: Changing Business Counts from 1988 to 2001: Part II." March 2005, UCED 2004/05-21. Packham, John and Thomas R. Harris. "The Contributions of Hospitals to the Nevada Economy." UCED 2005/06-01, April 2005. Patron, Eunice and Judith I. Stallmann "Optional Sales Tax Holidays: Which Jurisdictions Participate?" North American Regional Science Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada. November 10-12, 2005. Price, Shannon and Thomas R. Harris, and John Packham. "Demand for Primary Care Physicians in Gabbs, Nevada", UCED 2005/06-08, October 2005. Pritchett, J., D. Thilmany and K. Johnson. "Animal Disease Economics: A Survey of Literature and Typology of Research Approaches." International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 8(February 2005)23-45. Renkow, Mitch. 2005. "Wal-Mart and the Local Economy." NC State Economist (November). Shields, Martin, David L. Barkley, and Mary Emery. Industry Clusters and Industry Targeting. Industry Targeting/Industry Clusters Workshop papers. The Northeast Center for Rural Development, http://www.necrd.psu.edu/Industry_Targeting/ExtensionPapersandSlides/IndustryclusterWkspExtPapers.htm. Stallmann, Judith I. and Thomas G. Johnson. "A Review of 'An Analysis of Missouri Local Government Borrowing Costs.'" Prepared for Missouri State Auditor, Jefferson City, Missouri. September 23, 2005. Stallmann, Judith I. "Missouri's State and Local Taxes: A Comparison with Other States." Invited testimony: September 7, 2005, to the Joint Committee on Tax Policy, Missouri Legislature, Jefferson City, Missouri Stallmann, Judith I. and Eunice Patron. "The Missouri Sales Tax Holiday of 2004." Report to the Missouri Municipal League and the Missouri Association of Counties. Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia. April 2, 2005. Stallmann, Judith I. "The impact of tax revenue limitations on local government economic development practices." North American Regional Science Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada. November 10-12, 2005. Stallmann, Judith I. "The Economic Effects of a Sales Tax Holiday in Missouri." with Eunice Patron. Southern Regional Science Association, Roslyn, Virginia. April 8, 2005. Stallmann, Judith I. "The Jury is Still Out on Incentives: A How-to Case Study." Southern Regional Science Association, Roslyn, Virginia. April 8, 2005. Stenberg, Peter L. "Modern Telecommunications in Rural America" invited speaker at Chicago Federal Reserve Bank seminar "The Future of Economic Development in Rural America," Des Moines, Iowa, November 2005. Stenberg, Peter L. "The Knowledge Economy in the United States and the Transition Countries of Central Europe" presented in organized symposium "From Transformation to Integration: Assessing Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability of Agriculture and Rural Areas in Central and East European Countries," American Agricultural Economics Association, Providence, RI, July 2005. Stenberg, Peter L. "Diffusion of New Telecom Services: Myths and Realities in a Rural-Urban Difference," paper presented at the Western Regional Science Association annual meetings, San Diego, CA, February 2005. Thilmany, Dawn, N. McKenney, D. Mushinski and S. Weiler. "Geographic Interdependencies and Regional Base Industries in Rural Retail Markets." Annals of Regional Science 39(September 2005): 593-605. Thilmany, Dawn. "Private and Public Economic Perspectives on Animal Disease: An Emerging Strategic Issue for Agribusiness Managers." International Food and Agribusiness Management Review. 8(February 2005) 98-101. Weber, Bruce, "Poverty, Policy and Place: A Symposium" International Regional Science Review, 28(4):379-380, October 2005 Weber, Bruce, Leif Jensen, Kathleen Miller, Jane Mosley, Monica Fisher, "A Critical Review of Rural Poverty Literature: Is There Truly a Rural Effect?" International Regional Science Review, 28(4): 381-414, October 2005 Winter, Steven B. Seth A. Kessler and Judith I. Stallmann. "Missouri State and Local Spending: A Fifty-state Comparison for 2002." Missouri Extension, MP742. August, 2005. http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/miscpubs/mp0742.htm. Winter, Steven B. Seth A. Kessler and Judith I. Stallmann. "Missouri State and Local Taxes and Revenues: A Fifty-state Comparison for 2002." Missouri Extension, MP743. August, 2005. http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/miscpubs/mp0743.htm.