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Water and wastewater infrastructure (W&WI) in the United States is in need of immediate capital investments. Support from the federal government has declined significantly in the past two decades, forcing state and local governments to contribute a larger share. With increased decentralization of infrastructure decision making, public opinion is playing an ever greater role. Questions on capital investment, privatization, and concern for W&WI were part of a national omnibus survey of 1,000 respondents in the United States conducted in 2012. Demographic variables explained a small part of the variation in responses but were inconsistently significant across the issues, except for party affiliation, which was a significant explanatory variable for all the three issues. Stated preferences through public opinion surveys, coupled with revealed preferences, can provide policymakers a broad understanding of public support for various W&WI policy alternatives. An informed electorate and a responsive government can together address complex challenges facing the water and wastewater sector in the country.

ABSTRACT  Although the final demand‐oriented export base paradigm dominates economic development theory and practice, its usefulness is increasingly questioned because of the changing structure of modern economies, empirical critiques of export‐led growth strategies, and studies that decompose the actual sources of growth. The importance of service industries, especially local services and their role in inducing economic growth, requires a measure that includes both forward and backward linkages to empirically account for the complete role of an industry. Using data for New York State, we demonstrate how the input‐output‐based method of hypothetical extraction can more appropriately measure the economic linkage of a broader range of contemporary economic sectors (including services) than traditional, final demand‐induced, backward‐linkage multipliers. Our analysis provides empirical support for greater economic development attention to be directed toward local services.