As health information technology becomes more prevalent for most healthcare facilities, hospitals across the nation are choosing between performing this service in-house and outsourcing to a technology firm in the health industry. This paper examines factors affecting the information technology...

Outmigration and industrial composition have separately been the focal points of a significant amount of research related to nonmetropolitan counties; however, few (if any) studies have explicitly looked at the relationship between the two topics. The primary objective of this research is to...

This paper takes an empirical approach to determining the effect that a critical access hospital (CAH) has on local retail activity. Previous research on the relationship between hospitals and economic development has primarily focused on single-case, multiplier oriented analysis. The positive...

Rural communities suffer from both supply and demand-side disadvantages when dealing with Internet access. Telecommunications companies are less likely to provide them with needed infrastructure due to lower population densities, and they also tend to have lower levels of specific factors known...

This paper seeks to develop a methodology that will be useful for rural water districts in assessing the future of their water systems infrastructure. In particular, the use of free water simulation software and publicly available data on population, roads, and terrain present rural water...

This paper studies “entrepreneurial communities” using both quantitative and qualitative data from the state of Oklahoma. Household-level survey data and community-specific characteristics are used to determine what factors affect whether a rural community operates in an entrepreneurial...

Using the 2005 ARMS data, significant factors are identified that influence the decision to purchase farm inputs over the Internet and reasons for not adopting the Internet. Internet input purchasing farmers tend to be younger and more educated. Non-adopters that are more educated most likely...