Import substitution deserves more consideration as a theoretical basis for local economic development policies. Its role in promoting local growth is theoretically well-founded. Less clear is the extent to which public policies can promote it. In order to facilitate experimentation, the article...

Technological changes in the graphic communications industry have created new needs and new opportunities for economic development planners to help the industry grow. In contrast to the situation in other industries, technological innovations in different parts of the printing production process...

Robert Mier (1942-1995) influenced planning and economic development during his career as professor Chicago economic development official, and consultant. He developed a vision and practice based on social justice and equity. In economic development, he emphasized job creation, the role of...

Morales and colleagues deserve credit for extending traditional economic analysis by using anthropological field data and applying midlevel economic tools to policy analysis. However, their analysis is problematic because it exaggerates how many benefits would be lost if the Maxwell Street...

Over the past decade, the welfare evaluation of local economic development activities has become increasingly sophisticated. Projected or realized gains have been broken down by wage levels, household income levels, and race. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the distribution...

This article claims that the local welfare effects of employment generation are often treated inadequately in the evaluation of economic development programs. Opportunity costs of labor are often either ignored or overstated, resulting in misleading indicators of welfare changes. Appropriately...

We have been stimulated by this exchange on both personal and intellectual levels. Intellectual pursuits have been subdivided by scholars with various interests. However, specialization is not in itself an evil, except when it constrains fruitful analysis of empirical issues that have real-world...

EDQ introduces a new format to the Forum section in this issue. Periodically an article is submitted to us that raises important policy or methodological issues that have generated sharp responses from external reviewers. We believe that the debate that has taken place between the authors and...

This study, the first on the impact of a WalMart in a large city, draws on three annual surveys of enterprises within a four-mile radius of a new Chicago WalMart. It shows that the probability of going out of business was significantly higher for establishments close to that store. This...