This report looks at basic characteristics of business ownership for minorities in Iowa and in the U.S.

This is a summary of the American Communities Survey for Iowa in 2006. The data chosen were items that profiled characteristics of all Iowans, Blacks, and Hispanics as they may relate to their participation in the Iowa economy in comparison to the total population.

This study, sponsored and funded by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, describes the creative content and the creative structure of the Iowa economy. Creative content refers to the mix of occupations requiring high levels of artistic, design, scientific, engineering, or professional skill....

Tax increment financing (TIF) is a mechanism authorized by Iowa law allowing local governments, primarily cities, to capture the taxes collected on property valuation growth in a specified district. The use of TIF authority among Iowa's cities is extremely popular. In fiscal 1991, there were 746...

This brief report summarizes recent patterns of population growth and decline among Iowa's 947 cities. The report examines population changes from 2000 to 2007 and contrasts differences in performance by city size and metropolitan or non-metropolitan status.

Measuring the economic consequences of the 2008 Iowa floods requires careful consideration of what exactly is to be counted as an economic outcome. Property losses and damaged infrastructure mark reductions in overall private and public assets. Ruined or slowed businesses result in constrained...

This paper explores current usage of the term business climate. It discusses multiple definitions and measures of what constitutes a region's business climate. It also examines how usage of the term varies over time and geography. Finally, it addresses some issues related to business climate...

This is a comprehensive housing data compendium and analysis in support of the state of Iowa's quinquennial housing plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is composed of an overview of the state's economy, especially as it may pertain to housing needs and issues; a...

This report tracks recent state-level employment changes in a set of 35 industries that research suggests have been materially affected by advances in information technologies. THe industries are grouped into two categories: those producing IT goods and services, and those consuming IT goods and...

This report examines several measures of state R&D performance in Iowa. In light of recent attention on Iowa's Research Activities Credit program, this report also looks for evidence that the state's active involvement in R&D promotion during the last two decades has coincided with material...