The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to identify nontraditional sources of data that can be used to monitor economic activity in rural areas, and (2) to test the relationship between such data and trends in traditional measures, such as income and employment.

This study examines the extent to which strikes impaired productivity in nine manufacturing industries, as well as in other industries linked as suppliers or purchasers to the struck industries, in 1967-81. The analysis shows that strikes were associated with productivity declines of greater...

Policies to counter the growing discrepancy between economic opportunities in rural and urban areas have focused predominantly on expanding manufacturing in rural areas. Fundamental to the design of these strategies are the relative costs of production and productivity of manufacturing in rural...