Christopher D. Clark

Spatial and Temporal Variation in the Housing Market Values of Lot Size and Open Space

This research analyzes spatial and temporal variation in the effects of lot size and proximity to open space on residential home values in a single Tennessee county. The findings show that the value of proximity to greenways, parks, and water bodies increased over time, while the value of lot size and proximity to golf courses fell. Proximity to open space is found to be a substitute for lot size, although the degree of substitutability has weakened over time. Geographic variation in the marginal effects of lot size and proximity to open space is analyzed using locally weighted regression analysis. (JEL C31, Q51)

Spatial Analysis of Rural Economic Development Using a Locally Weighted Regression Model

This study uses locally weighted regression to identify county-level characteristics that serve as drivers of creative employment throughout the southern United States. We found that higher per capita income, greater infrastructure investments, and the rural nature of a county tended to promote creative employment density, while higher scores on a natural amenity index had the opposite effect. We were also able to identify and map clusters of rural counties where the marginal effects of these variables on creative employment density were greatest. These findings should help rural communities to promote creative employment growth as a means of furthering rural economic development.

Two Dimensions of the Spatial Distribution of Housing: Dependency and Heterogeneity across Tennessee's Six Metropolitan Statistical Areas

A two-stage multinomial logit selection model is used to model the relationship between demographic characteristics and housing density across Tennessee’s six metropolitan statistical areas. The study finds that there is both spatial correlation and heterogeneity in the most densely populated area, has the least amount of spatial correlation among housing density at the neighborhood level, while Johnson City, which has the lowest overall housing density, has the highest degree of spatial correlation.

A study of cattle producer preferences for best management practices in an East Tennessee watershed

Best Management Practices (BMPs) contribute to a broader range of efforts to improve the environmental performance of the livestock sector and its impact on water quality. This research evaluates a survey of cattle producers in an East Tennessee watershed and parts of five surrounding watersheds, along with and the factors correlated with preferences for BMPs designed to reduce sediment, nutrient, and fecal coliform contamination of surface waters by limiting cattle access to streams. The objective of the survey was to gather behavioral information about producer interest in specific BMPs in an effort to supplement a long-term biophysical modeling project. Structures and BMPs analyzed include stream crossings, rotational grazing, pasture improvement, and cattle water tanks. The physical and economic constraints faced by producers and the incentives provided by state and federal programs influence the decision to adopt a set of practices or structures that impact pathogen loading into streams. There was a clear preference for a suite of BMPs that did not include stream crossings, reinforcing anecdotal evidence that the maintenance associated with frequent high flow events may reduce willingness to install stream crossings. Cattle producers were more willing to implement rotational grazing and pasture improvement BMPs, which were associated with cattle health and productivity. The extensive distribution of pastureland in the region analyzed, the relatively inexpensive costs of adopting practices supporting pasture improvement, and higher quality forage correlated with improved pastures suggest a win-win outcome for cattle owners and efforts to enhance water quality.

Factors Driving Water Utility Rate Structure Choice: Evidence from Four Southern U.S. States

Water utilities typically set residential water prices using one of three rate structures: increasing block rate (IBR), uniform rate (UR), or decreasing block rate (DBR). Historically, DBR has been the most widely used residential rate structure, but water utilities are increasingly switching to a UR or IBR structure. The literature suggests several possible motivations for rate structure decisions, but provides little empirical evidence to support these suggestions and largely ignores the role of water managers’ attitudes and perceptions in the rate structure decision. The objective of this study is to statistically assess factors that drive rate structure changes, specifically toward UR or IBR, in the southern US. We designed and implemented a survey of water utility managers in Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, including rural to urban water utilities. Survey questions were selected based on water utility manager input and literature review and included rate structure changes, system characteristics, and attitudes and perceptions about factors likely to influence rate structure changes. The rate structure adoption decision is modeled using both multinomial logit and Heckman probit specifications. Our results suggest that different factors drive the adoption of UR and IBR, including fair prices for end-users, qualifying for government grants/loans, revenue concerns, treatment cost increases, and infrastructure investment needs.

Economic Instruments for Water Management in the Middle East and North Africa

Many of the developing economies in the Middle East and North Africa face serious constraints due to limited access to freshwater. Prescriptions for overcoming these constraints have tended to concentrate on increasing supply. An increasingly important alternative is to dampen demand and alter the allocation of freshwater by pricing water at levels that more accurately reflect its scarcity. This paper discusses the role of economic instruments in achieving these ends, including: how the instruments might be structured; what types of outcomes could be produced; what limitations will need to be faced, and what institutional resources will be required.

Is Growth in the Health Sector Correlated with Later-Life Migration?

The aging population of the United States has long been a subject of debate and inquiry for development planners, policy makers, and researchers. The doubling of the population of Americans older than 65 since 1960 (while the population younger than 65 has grown by only one half) (Fuguitt et al. 2002), has prompted interest in their effect on the economies in which they live (Serow 2003) and their potential as a resource for rural economic development (Fagan 1988; Fagan and Longino 1993; Reeder 1998). Interest in these issues intensified as the baby boomer generation approached retirement age. The retirement of this age cohort is likely to have profound effects on the nation and its economy as this cohort is not only much larger than previous age cohorts, but also healthier and wealthier due to economic growth and advances in the quality of healthcare. Older Americans increasingly have the means and the motivation to migrate to a different area upon retirement. For example, it is estimated that over the next 18 years, approximately 400,000 retirees each year – with an average of

Ecological Conservation: The Problems of Targeting Policies and Designing Instruments

320,000 to spend on a new home – will choose to relocate beyond their state borders (Vestal 2006). The South and West have been and continue to be popular destinations for these migrants (Serow 2001; He and Schachter 2003), although more are choosing to locate outside of the traditional retirement areas of Florida and Arizona (Vestal 2006). One driving force of this shift is the “halfback” phenomenon in the Southeast where retirees who had previously migrated to the coast are returning halfway back to their ancestral homes by relocating to areas such as the Southern Appalachian mountain regions of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, and northern Georgia (Park et al. 2007). Further, later-life migrants are frequently settling in rural places or small towns (Fuguitt et al. 2002). For example, in 2000 a half million more persons above 60 moved into non-metro counties than out of them (Beale 2005). These trends beg the question of how the recent in-migration of older Americans is affecting local economies, particularly in rural areas where the marginal effect of in-migration may be proportionally greater than in more populous urban areas.

Factors Affecting Producer Participation in State-sponsored Marketing Programs: The Case of Fruit and Vegetable Growers in Tennessee

Abstract Three decades of effort to control the obvious and familiar forms of pollution has produced a policy toolkit of theoretical power and practical flexibility. However, the toolkit is not as well-suited to addressing the challenges posed by preserving ecological diversity and integrity. This paper aims to illuminate some of the obstacles to policy design for ‘ecological conservation’ by: (1) identifying a number of analytical characteristics that were key to creating successful policy in the pollution control setting; (2) considering the applicability of these characteristics to the ecological conservation setting; and (3) discussing the implications of these differences for policy design. The paper concludes with recommendations on sidestepping these difficulties.

Greenhouse gas emission reductions as a motivator of e85 purchases across market segments

State programs promoting their agricultural products have proliferated in response to increased consumer interest in locally grown foods. Tennessee, for example, currently has two state-funded programs promoting its agricultural products. This study examines the factors associated with participation by Tennessee fruit and vegetable farmers in those programs. The results suggest that farmer participation is associated with farm income, use of extension resources, and fresh produce sales. These results should be of interest to anyone attempting to increase producer participation in such programs.