The latest report on the impact of business incubators distributed by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) suffers from severe shortcomings that undermine claims being made for it. Claims of methodological improvements are spurious, as are those for "added value" of the study...

Among the contentious aspects of the debate over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was the effect that the trade agreement was likely to have on jobs and wages for workers in Mexico and the United States. Proponents of NAFTA noted that the outcomes would vary by economic sector,...

This article describes communities implementing Business Retention and Expansion Visitation (BREV) programs and evaluates strategic-planning components of the approach. BREV programs are applicable to metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas but tend to be most often implemented in midsized...

An important determinant of success for community development corporations (CDCs) is their ability to create formal and informal interorganizational networks. The Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development is one of the earliest citywide CDC networks in the United States and one of the...

This article examines how community colleges can become more proactive partners in local economic development. It focuses on how networking can help community colleges in building their capacity in this relatively new area of intervention. Three community colleges that are members of such a...

This article reports on the Jobs and Workforce Initiative (JWFI), an employer-driven planning process aimed at developing workforce improvement strategies for northeast Ohio. The JWFI was undertaken by the Greater Cleveland Growth Association in 1996, and initial recommendations were issued in...

The declining federal role in economic development in distressed urban areas and concerns over the problems associated with metropolitan decentralization necessitate increased attention to the intrametropolitan distribution of business development programs. We examine the distribution of...

Does the employment status of minorities suffer when government downplays affirmative action efforts? This study analyzes the relative status of minority businesses and construction employees in New York City's construction industry. Ed Koch, New York City mayor from 1978 to 1990, chose to...

Although evaluations show that state and local economic development programs have few effects on economic growth or redistribution of economic activity, explanations for the failures are incomplete. Technocratic explanations have dominated economic development research but cannot account for...