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ABSTRACT  Canadian poverty rates have persisted at disappointingly high levels despite almost 15 years of continuous economic growth. The problem is exacerbated by some communities and neighborhoods having exceedingly high poverty, including very high rates for vulnerable demographic groups, such as aboriginals and recent immigrants. We investigate low‐income rates (poverty rates) for 2,400 Canadian "communities" over the 1981–2001 period. By focusing on communities, we fill a void in the related Canadian literature, which tends to focus on individuals, case studies, or more aggregate measures, such as provinces. Our approach allows us to assess the role of place‐based policies. Particular attention is given to communities with differing shares of aboriginal Canadians and recent immigrants. One novel feature is our analysis of both "short‐term" and "long‐term" causes of differential community poverty rates. The results suggest that community low‐income rates are more affected by initial economic conditions in the short term, with certain demographic factors becoming relatively more important in the long run.

Partridge and Rickman explore the wide geographic disparities in poverty across the United States. Their focus on the spatial dimensions of U.S. poverty reveals distinct differences across states, metropolitan areas, and counties and leads them to consider why antipoverty policies have succeeded in some places and failed in others.

Intro -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Ch 1 - Spatial Concentration of American Poverty: Should We Care, and What Are the Options? -- Ch 2 - Recent Spatial Poverty Trends in America -- Ch 3 - Regional Economic Performance and Poverty: What's the Theoretical Connection? -- Ch 4 - An Empirical Analysis of State Poverty Trends: Welfare Reform vs. Economic Growth -- Ch 5 - State Economic Performance, Welfare Reform, and Poverty: Case Studies from Four States -- Ch 6 - County Employment Growth and Poverty -- Ch 7 - Poverty in Metropolitan America -- Ch 8 - Poverty in Rural America -- Ch 9 - How to Win the Local Poverty War: Summary and Policy Implications -- Appendix A: Derivation of the County Poverty Rate Empirical Model -- References -- The Authors -- Index -- About the Institute.

AbstractThroughout the second half of the 20th century, urbanization, new technologies, rapid labor‐saving productivity growth in primary industries, and improved highways combined to create large‐scale regions which are now functionally integrated at the rural‐urban level. These forces have raised the stakes for regions in their pursuit of economic development and growth, making successful regional policy even more important. Changes to the governance structures consistent with the increased interdependence within broad rural‐urban regions will improve the region's competitiveness; adopting fad‐based approaches and policies aimed at "picking winners" will be less fruitful. Going forward, continuing globalization and environmental sustainability have the potential to reshape fundamentally the relative attractiveness of regions.

ABSTRACTThe combination of less than perfectly mobile resources (human and other), pervasive urbanization trends with potentially significant (positive and negative) externalities, and an environment of fiscal restraint suggests the need for more effective rural development and policy. In contrast to historical sectoral or fad‐based policies, place‐based rural development programs and policies focus on rural populations in the context of a realistic assessment of the opportunities and constraints they face. Among the most promising opportunities are 1) improving integration (possibly through connective infrastructure) with urban economies in order to access agglomeration economies, 2) enhancing rural amenities, and 3) increasing entrepreneurial capacity.

ABSTRACT  This paper examines the relationship between U.S. metropolitan county employment growth and poverty. Differential job growth–poverty linkages are found across metropolitan size and type of county. Own‐county employment growth significantly reduces central‐county poverty in large metropolitan areas relative to suburban county poverty. Compared with larger metropolitan areas, broader metropolitan‐wide job growth has more poverty reducing benefits in medium and smaller metropolitan areas, suggesting fewer metropolitan‐wide job‐accessibility constraints. The results suggest that targeted place‐based efforts to spur job growth may help reduce poverty.

The record economic expansion of the 1990s has led many to speculate that the United States is experiencing a New Economy. Along with the belief that strong growth could continue without accelerating inflation, there has been speculation that regional disparities in economic performance are disappearing in the New Economy. The historical patterns of state labor market performance are compared with recent trends to assess whether the 1990s represent a departure from the past. The conclusion is that regional disparities continue to exist. If anything, many of the historical patterns are stronger today than in the 1970s and 1980s.