Call for Papers: What Works for Distressed U.S. Cities?

Posted by Rutgers University on December 7, 2015

State and Local Economic Development Policy:  What Works for Distressed U.S. Cities?

* * * Call For Papers * * *

Graduate Student Conference

Rutgers University Camden Campus
Department of  Public Policy and Administration
Ph.D. Program in Public Affairs/Community Development

April 19, 2016

Tax abatements and incentives, megadeals, corporate subsidies, public-private partnerships, and claims of job creation: in a world of global markets, rapid innovation and mobile capital, state and local economic development policy is playing an increasingly important role in attracting and retaining businesses, and in intensifying cross-border competition for jobs. These policy decisions are usually launched with claims about their impact on economic growth; however, under conditions of austerity and increasing income inequality, state and local economic development policies that transfer public funds and benefits to private parties are also political decisions. They must be assessed in terms of their impact on who gets what, where, why and how.

Of particular concern are the historical legacies of industrialization, de-industrialization, and racism and their uneven manifestation in geographic disparities of wealth and poverty that are leaving so many American communities behind. How well are state and local economic development agencies and policies addressing these legacies and inequalities? What do we know, what don’t we know, and what do we need to know? This conference aims to bring together cutting-edge research on state and local economic development policy in the U.S., with a focus on distressed cities. We invite proposals for paper presentations that address the main theme; other topics of interest include:

• Tax incentives, tax increment financing, and other tax programs – do they work?
• Environmental and energy issues (i.e., Brownfields and remediation, green economy, alternative energy, climate change, retrofitting aging buildings, etc.)
• Land issues (vacant land, polluted land, land taxes, land banks, eminent domain, etc.)
• Policies aimed at preparing the workforce, living wage policies, impact of Medicaid expansion
• Small business development in the ‘inner-city’
• The contradictions of anchor institution strategies in distressed cities
• Enterprise zones and other targeted district and zone-based approaches
• Infrastructure needs, efficient pricing, debt, bonding in capital expenditures, spending disparities
• Transforming policing, criminal justice and public safety

We encourage empirically-grounded work employing a range of methodologies—from case study analysis, to historical institutional approaches and statistical modeling – and seek participation from students in graduate programs in urban studies, public policy, planning, political science and related fields. Accepted papers will be grouped into four panels, with an invited faculty discussant from Rutgers University and other prominent research universities in our region. We are planning for a dynamic keynote speaker, and encourage controversial findings and stimulating debate. Please submit an abstract of 300 words or less to http://dppa.camden.rutgers.edu/grad-conference/. Full papers are due April 1, 2016.

Deadline for Proposal Abstracts: January 1, 2016