Policy makers rely on cost-benefit analysis (CBA) to help them select the best policies and projects to alleviate poverty. But CBA, as practiced in the United States, not only fails to inform policy makers about the best use of scarce resources but helps make poverty worse for many people....

Are rural places inferior to urban areas in developing new businesses? Using employment insurance data for Arkansas, Iowa, Maine, and North Dakota, this study found that rural new businesses contribute substantially to job creation; that rural areas are as competitive as urban areas in...

Emerging high-growth firms create the lion’s share of jobs in the United States. Even though these firms are economically important, policy researchers have not studied them to a great extent. This focus section tries to stimulate interest in the issue by reporting results of cutting-edge...