This paper investigates the effect of rental housing affordability on homelessness across commuting zones within the United States. The authors’ estimates suggest the elasticity of the homelessness rate to median rents is positive and ranges between 0.55 and 4.5. To address concerns about endogeneity in the relationship between homelessness and rental housing affordability, the authors instrument for various measures of housing affordability using the Wharton Residential Land-Use Regulatory Index. The magnitude of the instrumental variables estimates are significantly increased relative to the ordinary least squares estimates, supporting the conclusion that declining housing affordability is a major driver of homelessness.
Sammis White, a co-founder of Economic Development Quarterly , is interviewed by Editor George Erickcek as part of the journal's 40 th anniversary. Sam shares the goals and objectives that his fellow co-founders, Richard Bingham and Gail Garfield Schwartz, had for the new journal and some of the challenges they had to overcome. He also reflects on what he perceives as the greater challenges facing both the academic field of economic development and economic development overall in the coming years.
In a recent issue of Economic Development Quarterly , Johnson et al. took issue with the contention that there is a strong scholarly consensus that professional sports facilities are not advisable public investments. Johnson et al. argued that opinion surveys of economists may be flawed, research reaches somewhat ambiguous conclusions, and that existing reviews of academic literature do not provide a balanced assessment of the evidence. Thus, Johnson et al. concluded that a judicious policy approach requires weighing the costs and benefits of individual stadium projects. This reply evaluates these claims and demonstrates that they do not have merit; therefore, it is accurate to describe the academic consensus as generally opposed to public underwriting of professional sports venues.
Digital technologies are reshaping the geography of entrepreneurship, expanding opportunities for business formation beyond traditional tech hubs. Yet, spatial gaps in digital entrepreneurship persist, particularly in low- and moderate-income communities. Using geolocated data on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) investments and commercial domain registrations, this study examines how local use of flexible grant funds supports digital entrepreneurship in targeted ZIP codes. The analysis finds that CDBG investments in areas with robust broadband adoption are positively associated with digital entrepreneurial activity. The results further suggest that the type of investment matters, with varying associations for activities relating to infrastructure, public services, and business services. These findings contribute to research on place-based policies and inclusive economic development in the digital age.
As part of a broader project focused on gender in economic development, this research uses interview data collected in 2024 and 2025 to understand the role that women play in the practice of economic development and to consider whether contributions of women working in the field of economic development have changed the practice and perception of the field. The findings underscore the importance of addressing gender and other disparities in the field of economic development and note that such efforts will require purposeful recruitment and mentoring, as well as the creation of inclusive workplace environments. Shifts in the demographics of the field demonstrate increased diversity and increased attention to equity as well as the care economy. However, ongoing structural biases and the encumbrance of cultural taxation suggest the need for increased institutional supports and the cultivation of emerging leaders from diverse backgrounds.
This paper estimates annual upward and downward occupational mobility rates in the United States between 2018 and 2024. The authors find that only 6.6% of workers in the lowest-quality occupations moved into higher-quality occupations. Conversely, 8.0% of workers in middle-quality occupations moved into lower-quality occupations. To capture trends, the authors estimate annual mobility rates from 2011 onward and find increasing downward mobility through 2018 and increasing upward mobility through 2019. In both series, higher variability was found but little change comparing 2018 and 2024. The authors use multinomial logit regressions to estimate individual characteristics associated with upward and downward occupational mobility. Higher levels of education and younger age are associated with increased transitions to higher-quality occupations and reduced downward occupational transitions. The authors find mixed results for race, ethnicity, and gender, with results suggesting the importance of human capital investments and other interventions that promote upward mobility and may prevent downward mobility.
The Supreme Court's Kelo decision upheld local governments' right to use eminent domain in furtherance of an economic development plan under the premise that their public purpose includes the jobs and tax revenue generated by such developments. Following Kelo, 21 states effectively banned economic development as a justification for eminent domain condemnations. Whereas previous research examined the impact of eminent domain restrictions at the state level, this paper's focus is at the metropolitan-area level, where the inefficient underassembly of property that eminent domain is meant to correct is most acute. Difference-in-differences methods found that metropolitan areas in states that restrict the use of eminent domain experience statistically significant negative treatment effects on employment and earnings following the restrictions. As four Supreme Court justices have indicated a willingness to reconsider Kelo, these findings provide further insight into the economic assumptions supporting the ruling.
This paper investigates the economic impact of new casino openings on local payroll income and employment growth in Arkansas, following a 2018 constitutional amendment that authorized casino gaming in three cities. Applying the synthetic control method and utilizing the Internal Revenue Service tax return data on salaries and wages and the U.S. Census Bureau's County Business Patterns data on employment, the author found that the casino openings did not lead to a measurable increase in either outcome at the city or county level compared to their synthetic counterparts or the overall Arkansas average. This result directly challenges the assumption of positive economic spillovers from casino development, suggesting that the expected benefits in job creation and wage earnings have not materialized in the medium run.
This paper is motivated by two broad important facts: (1) A vast body of research shows that juvenile delinquency has long-run consequences (e.g., adverse school and labor market outcomes) and (2) parents' economic and financial conditions affect children's outcomes. Yet, there is limited causal evidence on the impact of adults' joblessness on juvenile delinquency. To fill this gap, the authors utilize county-level unexpected layoff events to assess their impact on youth delinquency behavior and identify the channels through which this relationship is exerted. Using fixed-effect estimates, the authors find that adult male joblessness heightens a broad array of juvenile delinquency incidences. The observed effect is mainly driven by nonmetropolitan counties with low unemployment insurance replacement rates, large female-male wage gaps, high child poverty rates, and low social capital. The findings have implications for policies that support youth, improve job security, and curb inhibiting labor demand factors that affect the stability of families.
This study examines how a multicity initiative supporting minority-owned or women-owned businesses organizes inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems to address persistent market failures. Using a triangulated qualitative research design, the study asks what configuration of problem recognition, organizational motivations, and partnering pathways explain engagement, and with what returns. Findings show that organizations participate based on both mission alignment and anticipated benefit, structuring their efforts through existing relationships and coordinated roles across management, capital, and market access. Partnerships serve as delivery mechanisms and as settings for institutional learning, yielding ecosystem level outcomes alongside internal adjustments toward inclusive and culturally responsive practice. The study advances a market failure approach to ecosystem design and identifies the mechanisms that connect organizational intent to sustained engagement. The findings inform flexible design strategies, role alignment, and culturally grounded implementation for policy makers, funders, and ecosystem practitioners.
Traditional economic development and community development prioritize different strategies for improving community well-being, and they are often housed in different agencies at state and local levels. Although it may be beneficial to integrate these efforts, small communities may find it difficult to do so. The authors present case studies based on interviews with practitioners and observers of two micropolitan centers and one town that have taken steps to integrate some aspects of economic development with community development—specifically downtown revitalization. The issues precipitating these actions are explained, as well as a description of what the communities have done thus far to address them. The authors describe the process of organizing these responses, including how opposition was addressed, and some results to date. Recommendations for local actors and state governments are provided, to further the practice of integrating economic and community development in small cities and towns.
Each year, states collectively spend tens of billions of dollars on tax incentive programs. Despite being states’ largest investment in economic development, research from The Pew Charitable Trusts found in 2012 that no state regularly and rigorously evaluated the effectiveness of incentives. This left policy makers with very little information to guide decision making. Since 2012, there has been a sea change: More than two-thirds of states and several major cities now regularly produce high quality evaluations of their major incentives, using rigorous and creative methods to measure impact. Pew's research both informed and followed this shift in the field. In addition to assessing the effects of incentives, these evaluations also provide a wealth of valuable information on how to design more effective incentives. As a result, policy makers are better informed and capitalize on the new information as they launch, continue, modify, or repeal programs.
Many factors contribute to growing inequalities in the United States. This commentary identifies three common assumptions inherent to economic development practice that may contribute to these dynamics within cities and regions. By looking beyond the economic development literature, the author presents a framework that prioritizes equitable outcomes for economic development: looking in, leveraging, and locking (3Ls). Looking in refers to a process whereby stakeholders assess existing formal and informal assets to address economic concerns. Leveraging refers to how stakeholders may collectively draw from existing assets to garner additional resources to achieve shared priorities. Locking refers to ensuring that economic development activities benefit residents, particularly those most marginalized and economically vulnerable. This commentary then compares the 3L framework to others, assessing how each may be useful in advancing more equitable economic outcomes in the United States.
