Barry M. Rubin

Rhetoric versus Reality: A Review of Studies on State Enterprise Zone Programs

Abstract This paper provides a comprehensive review of empirical analyses of state-sponsored enterprise zone programs. An introductory segment focuses on major theoretical and policy issues about enterprise zones. This discussion is followed by a summary of studies on two major dimensions of enterprise zone programs: (1) job and investment impacts, and (2) program costs. The research reviewed ranges from individual case studies to cross-state analyses. Interpretation of findings from these studies suggests that enterprise zones vary in their effects on investment and employment in declining areas. This variation is partly explained by the features of program design and the specific attributes of zone contexts. Although enterprise zones have been effective in generating new employment and investment in certain areas, they have important limitations that must be scrutinized more closely to minimize program costs and target benefits to depressed communities more effectively.

Urban Enterprise Zones: Employment Impacts and Fiscal Incentives

Abstract The urban enterprise zone is an economic development concept that has been implemented by a large majority of state governments in the United States. Yet there is little evidence demonstrating that this concept is effective at generating new ecnomomic development at the local level. Nor does previous research on enterprise zones take into account external effects that may stimulate or deter economic growth within a zone. This article seeks to remedy these problems by carrying out a disaggregated analysis of new job development within an enterprise zone, and by presenting a method that enables external growth stimuli and industrial composition to be factored out of the enterprise zone evaluation process. This method relies on shift-share analysis to reveal the comparative advantage of an enterprise zone for generating economic growth relative to the larger metropolitan area of which it is a geographic component. The method is applied to the Evansville, Indiana, Urban Enterprise Zone. From this ana...

A Transatlantic Comparison of Enterprise Zone Impacts: The British and American Experience

Since the late 1970s, over 20 enterprise zones have been designated and are operating in Great Britain. In the United States, over 35 states have implemented an enterprise zone program. Even though some work has been done comparing the concept of enterprise zones as implemented in the United States and the United Kingdom, no research has looked at the comparative impacts of enterprise zones in these two contexts. This article analyzes the available research on zone impacts, and concludes that the U.K. zones have been largely unsuccessful in meeting program goals. In contrast, some of the state-sponsored zones in the United States have achieved a moderate degree of success. The article specifies several primary factors that help explain the moderate success of these U.S. zones. The absence of these factors in the U.K. programs structure and implementation appears to be the major determinant of the failure of the British zones.

Environmental linkages in regional econometric models: an analysis of coal development in western Kentucky

A comprehensive and integrated econometric model for the regional analysis of large-scale energy development (synthetic fuels) projects emphasizes the specification of environmental quality relationships, but the approach can be generalized and used as a benchmark for impact analysis of any large-scale development or disinvestment in communities. The estimation of the environmental portion of the Evansville Area model with ordinary least squares provides encouraging results. The major exception in the environmental block is the nitrogen oxide emissions equation. The results do indicate some environmental constraints on future coal conversion projects for the region. 41 references, 6 tables.

Economic and fiscal impact analysis of energy development projects: Coal liquefaction in the Illinois Basin

Abstract This paper addresses the problem of anticipating the local economic, demographic and fiscal impacts occurring from the siting of coal liquefaction facilities in the Illinois Basin. This region (primarily western Kentucky) will contain some of the most ambitious liquefaction projects in the U.S., yet no comprehensive method for the estimation of these impacts currently exists. It is suggested that the solution might lie with the development of an integrated econometric impact evaluation model. The potential economic, demographic and fiscal impacts of these projects are also described, preliminary analyses using existing economic impact assessment methods are presented, and certain policy analysis applications are highlighted.

Curriculum Recommendations for Public Management Education in Computing: The Final Report of the NASPAA Ad Hoc Committee on Computers in Public Management Education

The systematic education of public managers has undergone various changes throughout its history. As recently as the nineteenth century, there was no formal educational program because it was thought that any citizen could perform the duties of a government employee. However, by the early 1900s this attitude started to change, and specialized education for public managers began. During the 1930s and 1940s, scientific management techniques were incorporated into programs; then social sciences and human relations became solid parts of the curricula in the 1950s and 1960s. These general changes in public management curricula reflected changes in society, duties of government, and advance in knowledge. Today, if we are to continue to educate qualified public managers, we must update our programs to reflect the continuing changes in society, government, and knowledge-particularly those changes precipitated by the computer age.

Econometric Models For Metropolitan Planning

Abstract A major problem concerning the quality of economic forecasting and policy analysis exists for planning agencies in metropolitan areas. These agencies are generally forced to trade off forecasting ability for cost due to the nature of existing methods. This dilemma can be solved through the use of metropolitan region econometric models, which can provide excellent forecasts and policy analysis potential at only moderate cost. This article describes how such models can be used for planning purposes, delineates the process required for the development of such models, presents a generalized equation specification, and provides a policy analysis illustration for the Milwaukee SMSA.

Identifying the Local Economic Development Impacts of Global Climate Change

The need to evaluate and plan for the region-specific economic development impacts of potential global climate change is receiving increasing attention. This article presents a method for estimating such consequences and the results of exploratory research that applies this method to determining the employment impacts in a recreationally based region. The research results demonstrate that climate variation over the past 20 years has had significant development impacts. For the Pere Marquette Watershed region of central-western Michigan, the analysis shows that employment in the construction; farming; finance, insurance, and real estate; manufacturing; residuals; services; trade; and transportation/utilities sectors of the region is sensitive to climate variation.

Labor-Management Relations: Conditions for Collaboration

The failure to consider the collective bargaining relationship already established between labor and management constitutes a major deficiency in the research on collaboration, especially since labor unions are likely to play a significant role in organizational reform. The purpose of this research is to analyze the successful labor-management reform initiative in the city of Indianapolis using a model of collaboration developed by the authors.

A methodology for comparing manufacturing industry costs at the state level

Abstract This article develops and applies a methodology for a comparative cost analysis for manufacturing industries. Location variations in labor, energy, transportation and tax costs are analyzed for representative firms constructed for the twenty two-digit Standard Industrial Classifications. The results of the analysis include an estimate of the interstate variation of these business costs for manufacturing industries and an idea of the relative importance of these four business cost components among industries and across states.