Earlier analyses of farm-level inequality are extended by incorporating measures of inequality between groups of farmers and multiple attributes, including years of education. Single- and multi-dimensional inequality declined between 1985 and 1989. A sharp decrease occurred in inequality among...

The objective of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between changes in per capita manufacturing employment, manufacturing earnings per worker and human capital investment in nearly 3,000 U.S. counties over the period 1980-90. Two key hypotheses are tested: 1. Communities in...

Tax incentives by state and local governments to attract industrial development are undergoing another round of public criticism in the news media. There are those who argue that any form of economic incentive in an attempt to entice businesses to locate in a particular state or community is...

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 purpose of this paper is to reformulate the problem of unemployment and its relation to education; i.e., to suggest a new conceptual perspective on this relationship. The major hypothesis is that the people of a low-income region with limited opportunities for educated persons interpret...

Rural America, over time, will become less distinct with respect to policies and institutions, and increasingly operate by the same set of rules and constraints that apply to the larger, urban-dominated, society. At what point will many rural institutions (such the Farm Credit Services, and the...

In this paper we determine the extent to which information about the comparative importance of major sectors of a state's economy can improve the ability to forecast compound annual growth rates in personal income. We first calculate compound growth rates in disposable personal income per capita...

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, we define social capital from different perspectives and show how it is linked to the concept of a community. Based on these definitions, a conceptual framework for analyzing and measuring social capital and its indicators is developed. A typology for analyzing social capital is...