Daniel Rich

Privatism and the Limits of Local Economic Development Policy

Contemporary local economic development policies reflect an underlying commitment to privatism—to enhancing and enlarging the role of the private sector in urban regeneration. In this study we challenge conventional expectations about the benefits of local economic development policies that are based on this commitment. Our analysis supports a set of propositions that define common limitations of the local economic development policies pursued in the 1970s and 1980s. We expect such limitations whenever privatism is accepted as the framework for urban development and regeneration policies.

Privatism and Urban Development An Analysis of the Organized Influence of Local Business Elites

Over the past 30 years businessmen have had an organized, continuing, and, at times, decisive influence on redevelopment policy. The primary vehicle of this influence has been businessmen’s development committees-organizations whose membership is dominated by business elites who endeavor to formulate and promote plans for the redevelopment of the center city. Working through these committees, business elites have manifested an orientation toward redevelopment which stresses the physical dimensions of urban problems, the need for rational comprehensive planning, and the expectation that urban problems may be solved by mobilizing the business community in a sustained partnership with public officials. Pursuing the objectives of business elites, development committees actively influence local politics: setting the agenda for public action, participating in policy decisions, promoting municipal reform, and joining political leaders in governing coalitions. The extensive and sustained influence of some of these committees suggests that they operate as local private

Public Affairs Programs and the Changing Political Economy of Higher Education

The changing political economy of higher education threatens the viability of some public affairs programs and challenges the overall value of public affairs education, research, and service. This article evaluates these changes and the strategies available to public affairs programs, individually and collectively, to counter the erosion of support.

Photovoltaics and electric utilities: An evaluation of utility attitudes and expectations

Abstract The U.S. Department of Energy has argued that the long-term market potential for photovoltaics (PVs) lies in central-station utility applications. Based on results of a nationwide survey of U.S. electric utilities, this study evaluates utility experience and information about PVs, utility perceptions of the viability of both central-station and dispersed applications, and utility expectations about the future prospects for PVs in the power systems market. While a number of utilities are actively involved with PV demonstration projects and remote applications, the attitudes and investment plans of most utilities are not supportive of central-station PV applications. Moreover, while some utilities anticipate growth in dispersed applications in their markets, most utilities are unprepared to deal with the challenges or business opportunities created by the introduction of dispersed systems. In general, limited knowledge and uncertainty characterize the general state of utility thinking about PVs as a power source.

The Corporation as a Soeial Welfare Institution

Controversy about the meaning and implications of &dquo;corporate social responsibility&dquo; has recently focused upon the role of corporations as social welfare institutions; specifically as organizations which can contribute to the solution of the problems of the ghetto and of the poor. Advocates of &dquo;corporate social responsibility&dquo; believe that mobilization of the power, wealth, and managerial skills of American corporations can help to overcome domestic welfare problems. In addition, corporate involvement in social welfare is viewed as having potential benefits for the corporation itself; it is expected to provide a source of direct profit and contribute to a public image of the corporation as a socially valuable institution. Objections to corporate involvement in social welfare have been based on pragmatic and ideological arguments. Some critics believe that expectations for adequate performance of social welfare functions by the private sector are economically

Tax credits and US solar commercialization policy

Abstract This article evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of federal tax credits as instruments of US solar commercialization policy. It demonstrates that the overall cost-effectiveness of the tax credits in inducing energy savings has not been conclusively documented. In addition, at the time they were created there was mismatch between the commercialization strategy represented by the tax credits and the state of the solar industry and the technology. Despite these limitations, tax credits supported many of the objectives embodied in solar commercialization policies; they benefited the solar industry and contributed to its development, and they provided a visible sign of government support for solar energy.

Beyond Privatism A Rejoinder

Advocates of privatism, like Robert MacGregor, claim that what is good for business is good for the city, and that the future well-being of urban communities is linked to even greater reliance upon business initiatives. Such claims are seductive, not only because they appeal to traditional American values, but also because they offer the prospect that business skills can be mobilized to find harmonious solutions to urban problems. We believe these claims are both inaccurate and deceptive. They mistake the nature of urban problems and the characteristics of businessmen’s skills. They ignore historical evidence of the failures of privatism and they misrepresent the impact of local business elites on urban policy. Most importantly, attachment to privatism narrows the public vision of possibilities available for urban development.