So Close, Yet So Far: The Benefits and Limits of Rural–Urban Industry Linkages

Anders Van Sandt and Craig Carpenter
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Anders Van Sandt: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-21

Abstract: Rural–urban linkages have long been recognized as a potential rural economic development strategy. This article tests the potential effects of rural–urban linkages created through rural food manufacturing, tourism, and data processing centers on rural per capita income, employment, and population between 2009 and 2016. Using unique spatial interaction variables, we empirically estimate the Carlino–Mills conditional growth model for all rural counties in the contiguous US. Robustness checks reveal the limits of this economic development strategy by testing the model specification across different definitions of urban and rural places and varying spatial lags. Results suggest that both agritourism and data processing centers increase per capita incomes and employment through rural–urban linkages across distances, urbanicity, and rurality. The potential of beneficial rural–urban linkages associated with food manufacturing appears to be more situational, while creative class and outdoor recreation had small negative or insignificant rural-urban linkage effects on the three economic outcomes.

Keywords: rural–urban linkage; rural development; local food; Carlino–Mills; economic development; agritourism; data processing center; regional economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:2875-:d:762124

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