New Goals for New Rural Policies

Abstract

The basic question is whether rural America is sustainable in its present form. America’s hegemonic position in world agricultural commodity trade is eroding. The lessons from urban America suggest that structural transformation is both painful and necessary. Improving rural infrastructure will be an important objective, but the benefits may be smaller than similar investments in metropolitan areas. Expanding agricultural opportunities will be important, through value-added processing and new specialized crops. Lifting rural human capital will be an essential ingredient in spurring new rural business formation. Finally, improving rural economic networks will be an important step in harnessing the potential of small businesses that typify the rural economic landscape. There will not be one way to address the myriad problems in rural America, but any new rural policies must recognize that not all rural communities may be viable in the future.

Production Chains in an Interregional Framework: Identification by Means of Average Propagation Lengths

“…This would allow us to analyze the position of agriculture in each country and the connections with other industries and other countries. The results of such an investigation might help in addressing agricultural or rural policy issues (see e.g., Hewings 2001). For example, the information might be relevant when decisions have to be made at the EU level about agricultural subsidies.…”

Best Practices in Twenty‐First‐Century Rural Development and Policy

“…One‐size‐fits‐all RD policy is inappropriate because of the heterogeneity of rural North America. Place‐appropriate policy recognizes that rural communities have different assets and face different challenges that include transportation, location relative to major markets, local capacity and institutions, and amenities and quality of life (Blank 2005; Hewings 2001; Irwin et al. 2010; Kilkenny 2010).…”

Rural prosperity and federal expenditures, 2000–2010

“…We hypothesize that government spending continues to emphasize supporting agriculture and providing social services, but contend that sustaining prosperous rural communities should be one of its primary aims. The rural prosperity concept offers a more holistic framework for studying rural development and can perhaps help determine where and how to invest in the these communities given that “not all rural communities may be viable in the future” (Hewings , p. 146). This paper identifies key challenges faced by contemporary rural communities, describes the methodology for identifying prosperous rural counties and analysing funding changes with difference of means tests, then evaluates the statistical relationship between current patterns of federal expenditure and performance across the four dimensions of rural prosperity established by Isserman et al ().…”