1 The Power of Knowledge in Building Strong Rural

Transcript:1 The Power of Knowledge in Building Strong Rural:
1 The Power of Knowledge in Building Strong Rural Communities Presented at Alberta Rural Development Conference: The Power of Knowledge Edmonton (Leduc), Alberta September 29, 2011 ___________ Mark Partridge Swank Professor in Rural-Urban Policy The Ohio State University http://aede.osu.edu/programs/Swank/ Outline: Knowledge is King Today’s moral is that the best strategy is using the assets inside your community. Two community assets I will stress: Your people and your businesses. Provide the right incentives, knowledge and skills for them to thrive. Leverage your colleges and existing institutions such community organizations to create the right local environment. 2 Outline: Knowledge is King Focus on attracting the right people and less on attracting (“bribing”) outside firms. “Bribing” outside firms is offering them a better deal than local businesses who don’t threaten to leave. Trying to lure outside firms with incentives and subsidies is typically ineffective. (Partridge and Olfert, 2011; Goetz et al., 2011). Make it that outside firms want to come to your great environment for people and businesses. I am not ruling out good marketing. 3 State employment growth (2006-07) on announced per capita million-dollar facilities (2005) Outline: Knowledge is King People worry that rural areas are doomed without outside intervention. However, nonfarm rural population is quite stable. Rural areas can prosper even if agriculture is smaller. 5 6 Outline: Knowledge is King With this good foundation, your community will have the best chance to thrive. SIMPLE STRATEGY! Be patient and build from within while leveraging local and regional assets. 7 How can Alberta’s regions successfully compete globally? 1. Education and entrepreneurship are local forces that promote prosperity. 2. Resilience to shocks. Ongoing global economic sluggishness. Alberta’s exposure to natural resources produces great wealth, but creates huge risk and variability. Alberta is an overachiever. Alberta faces the prospect of huge shocks and risks. E.g., Not just the price of commodities, but climate change and the whims of U.S. policy. 8 9 Alberta Annual Oil and Gas Industry Investment, 2000-2009 Source: Government of Alberta: Office of Statistics and Information. Why the Race for Knowledge? Individual earnings significantly rise with knowledge, skills, and education. 10 11 Government of Alberta: Office of Statistics and Information. Why the Race for Knowledge? This understates an individual’s gain to education as employment rates rise and unemployment rates fall with education. Source: OECD, 2010. So they are more likely to work, and among those working, they are more likely to