This is a new version of a series of color slides on social capital as presented at a conference on rural development presented in Tampa, Florida in 2004, and sponsored by the Southern Rural Development Center.

After discussing basic principles of school finance, and comparing selected education-related variables in southeastern states, this paper examines how schools districts are financed in Kentucky. Emphasis is given to issues of funding adequacy, efficiency and equity, and the lawsuit culminating...

It is widely believed that public and private research and educational activities have led to rapid advances in the production of crops and livestock, making farmers far better off than they would have been had these technological advances not taken place. The cash receipts data for the postwar...

The objective of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between changes in per capita manufacturing employment, manufacturing earnings per worker and human capital investment in nearly 3,000 U.S. counties over the period 1980-90. Two key hypotheses are tested: 1. Communities in...

Tax incentives by state and local governments to attract industrial development are undergoing another round of public criticism in the news media. There are those who argue that any form of economic incentive in an attempt to entice businesses to locate in a particular state or community is...

This paper examines some of the ways in which social capital networks develop and operate and contrasts the differences between rural and urban settings based on "case study observations" of rural communities and urban subdivisions. A list of potential researchable questions involving social...

Rural America, over time, will become less distinct with respect to policies and institutions, and increasingly operate by the same set of rules and constraints that apply to the larger, urban-dominated, society. At what point will many rural institutions (such the Farm Credit Services, and the...