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Population aging is being experienced by many rural communities in the U.S., as evidenced by increases in the median age and the high incidence of natural population decrease. The implications of these changes in population structure for the daily lives of the residents in such communities have received little attention. We address this issue in the current study by examining the relationship between population aging and the availability of service-providing establishments in the rural U.S. between 1990 and 2010. Using data mainly from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we estimate a series of fixed-effects regression models to identify the relationship between median age and establishment counts net of changes in overall population and other factors. We find a significant, but non-linear relationship between county median age and the total number of service-providing establishments, and counts of most specific types of services. We find a positive effect of total population size across all of our models. This total population effect is consistent with other research, but the independent effects of age structure that we observe represent a novel finding and suggest that age structure is a salient factor in local rural development and community wellbeing.

When the concept of growth machine was created more than twenty years ago, it seemed unlikely that it would ever reach Eastern Europe. Now, about fifteen years after the beginning of the post‐socialist transformation, the growth machine is also part of urban politics in the former socialist countries. This article will try to fill a gap in growth machine research, examining this concept in a post‐socialist environment through the case of Hungary. The concept of growth machine is based on a powerful argument about a coalition promoting economic growth, and shows considerable flexibility around the Western world. Although in post‐socialist Eastern Europe the interlocked political and economic power accumulation is the same, there are significant differences both in terms of the composition and operation of the growth machine. The Hungarian example shows that the post‐socialist growth machine is strongly shaped by the socialist legacy of the region. Its operation is also influenced by the elite transformation after the collapse of socialism and the presence of powerful external actors, like the nation state or transnational investors. Moreover, the contemporary social context is very supportive, since the political and economic interests are closely connected and the counter‐movements are relatively weak. We develop a theoretical framework, supported by examples of urban development in two Hungarian cities that offer interesting differences in their political and economic environment. Lorsque le concept de machine de croissance a été créé il y a plus de vingt ans, on pouvait douter qu’il touche un jour l’Europe de l’Est. Aujourd’hui, environ quinze ans après le début de la transformation post‐socialiste, la machine de croissance y fait aussi partie de la politique urbaine. L’article tente de combler les lacunes dans la recherche sur la machine de croissance en étudiant ce concept dans l’environnement post‐socialiste au travers du cas de la Hongrie. Basé sur un argument décisif relatif à une coalition encourageant la croissance économique, le concept présente une souplesse considérable au sein du monde occidental. Même si, dans l’Europe de l’Est post‐socialiste, l’accumulation imbriquée de pouvoir politique et économique est semblable, d’importantes différences existent à la fois en termes de composition et de fonctionnement de la machine de croissance. L’exemple hongrois montre que la conformation de la machine de croissance post‐socialiste doit énormément à l’héritage socialiste de la région, De plus, son fonctionnement est influencé par la mutation des élites après l’effondrement du socialisme et par la présence de puissants acteurs extérieurs tels l’État‐nation et les investisseurs transnationaux. En outre, le contexte social contemporain est très favorable, puisque les intérêts politiques et économiques sont étroitement liés et les mouvements d’opposition relativement faibles. L’article élabore un cadre théorique, étayé par des cas d’aménagement urbain dans deux grandes villes hongroises présentant d’intéressant...

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