Andy Hultquist

The economic impact of terrorist incidents on the Italian hospitality industry

Acts of terror are intended to incite fear and intimidation, which makes tourism particularly susceptible to attacks. Because the hospitality industry serves as a useful barometer of the indirect impact of attacks, we examine the impact of terrorist incidents on lodging-use rates in Italy between 1995 and 1997. We make use of data on domestic as well as international terrorism at the city level to explore more localized implications of terrorist incidents. We find that lodgings used by foreign visitors are the most sensitive to terrorist attacks and that the incidents have the largest impact during the year of the attack.

An Examination of the Local Economic Impacts of Military Base Closures

The 1988 Base Closure and Realignment Act empowered the Commission on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) to undertake five rounds of significant military base closure and realignment. Investigating the economic impacts associated with base closures provides the first step in not only determining whether the BRAC Commission has effectively minimized negative impacts on affected communities but also provides guidance to policy makers in targeting future base closures, and helps affected communities prepare for the economic shocks associated with these events. This article examines (a) the local economic impacts associated with general changes in military base employment; (b) if the first four, completed rounds of BRAC closures have a significant differential impact on county-level employment; (c) whether these BRAC closures exhibit economic spillover effects on the employment of neighboring counties; and (d) if the economic impact associated with BRAC losses differs for enlisted and civilian personnel reductions.

The Relationship Between Climate Change Policy and Socioeconomic Changes in the U.S. Great Plains

As the United States struggles with national solutions to climate change, state and local governments have increasingly taken policy action in this area. Although existing research addresses why some places adopt climate change policy while others do not, much of this expresses policies as a function of factors in the present period or recent past, leaving the question of whether current climate change policy can be seen as a lagged response to longer term trends largely unaddressed. Examination of climate change policy as a response to longer term changes expands the existing understanding of why locations choose to be active in this area. Pairing unique climate change policy survey data from more than 200 local Great Plains governments with Census and environmental data from 1990 to 2000, this article examines whether changes in local socioeconomic and environmental factors in the 1990s are associated with climate change mitigation and adaptation policy adoption from the following decade, 2000–2010.

AN EVALUATION OF GEOGRAPHICALLY TARGETED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN OHIO

ABSTRACT: Despite the continued popularity of spatially targeted industrial incentives with policymakers, a growing body of scholarship assessing outcomes associated with these policies has called their effectiveness into question. However, existing studies have treated different programs as comparable entities, when programs often differ markedly among each other in incentive generosity and requirements. This article uses panel data from 2000–2004 to examine county-level employment and wage growth outcomes for Ohio’s two primary economic development incentive programs. Results indicate that not only do different incentive programs lead to different, and at times positive, outcomes, but that these outcomes also differ for firms in different industries.

Assessing National Discourse and Local Governance Framing of Climate Change for Adaptation in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT While many national governments struggle to maintain global climate change as a high priority issue, many local governments are taking action to fill the policy gaps. This study examines how local governments across the United Kingdom of Great Britain are reframing climate change. We compiled a dataset of newspaper publications covering climate change over a 10-year timeframe, plus survey and interview responses from local governance practitioners, to identify a shift in national discourse that has changed the priority level of climate change in UK local governance. This paper argues that many local governments are strategically reframing climate change as alternative issues in order to make progress in climate adaptation planning.

Book Review: The Economics of Natural and Unnatural DisastersKernW. (Ed.). (2010). The Economics of Natural and Unnatural Disasters. Kalamazoo, MI: W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Haifeng Qian is an assistant professor of economic development and public policy at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University. His areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, regional development, and public policy. His recent research has appeared in Annals of Regional Science, Economic Development Quarterly, Environment and Planning A, Journal of Economic Geography, and Small Business Economics.