This paper examines some of the ways in which social capital networks develop and operate and contrasts the differences between rural and urban settings based on "case study observations" of rural communities and urban subdivisions. A list of potential researchable questions involving social...

The challenges associated with (back-) migration of people to rural communities in the 1990s are examined. It is argued that reducing the "brain drain" from rural areas through the creation of job opportunities for college-educated individuals, is central to an effective rural(community)...

In this paper, a conceptual framework is developed representing the dynamic optimization problem for maximizing educational quality subject to a limited amount of available funds. We then examine how the quality of education offered by a school system and the cost of producing education might be...

Between 2006 and 2009, the OECD undertook a series of reviews of national rural development policy. The reviews largely followed a consistent approach and used the OECD’s New Rural Paradigm (NRP) as a common metric for assessing various national approaches. Although the reviews cannot be...

Most rural regions are weak participants in the modern economy. As a result they are often seen as inherently incapable of sustained economic growth. Yet, OECD evidence shows that there are rural regions with relatively high rates of economic growth. Increasing the number of high performance...

Fostering higher levels of economic activity in rural regions constitutes an important policy challenge for most OECD countries. While some rural regions have higher than average growth rates, most grow at slower rates than the majority of urban regions. Because rural regions are structurally...

Between 2006 and 2009, the OECD undertook a series of reviews of national rural development policy. The reviews largely followed a consistent approach and used the OECD's New Rural Paradigm (NRP) as a common metric for assessing various national approaches. Although the reviews cannot be...