High Road, Low Road, or Off Road? Economic Development Strategies in the American States

Abstract

Observers of state economic development policy in the United States have identified two conceptually distinct approaches, often termed industrial recruitment and entrepreneurial policies, and debated the extent to which a “third wave” of policy emergent during the 1990s represents a conceptually distinct approach to economic development. Data limitations and conceptual confusion have hindered efforts to distinguish state economic development strategies and to update existing typologies to reflect contemporary practices. This article uses data from the Council for Community and Economic Research’s Expenditures Database in 2007 to evaluate the extent to which the states follow conceptually distinctive economic development strategies. We find that the states’ economic development expenditures reflect a high degree of conceptual hybridity rather than strict adherence to supply-side industrial recruitment or demand-side entrepreneurial development.