This article makes the case for more rigorous evaluations of state and local economic development programs, and provides some suggestions on how more rigorous evaluations may be accomplished.

This article argues that regional economic development policies should aim to correct failures of private markets to achieve efficiency. Market failures that may rationalize regional economic development policies include involuntary unemployment, involuntary underemployment, fiscal benefits,...

This article simulates job and fiscal impacts of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority’s tax credit program for job creation, commonly called “MEGA.†Under plausible assumptions about how such credits affect business location decisions, the net costs per job created of the MEGA...