Economic Development Quarterly

Recovery from catastrophic disaster presents challenges in terms of the rebuilding of infrastructure, homes, and businesses, but it also presents opportunities to redevelop large tracts of land cleared by wind and flood or cleared as homes and businesses are moved away from hazardous areas. It is an opportunity to rethink the economic bases of damaged communities. The debates in Louisiana and Mississippi concern whether to focus on rebuilding damaged neighborhoods and communities much as they were pre-Katrina, albeit with some modifications to reduce vulnerability to wind and flood, or to use the opportunity created by the storm to redevelop neighborhoods and whole communities. In New Orleans, redevelopment may mean turning low-lying areas into parks and building a new transit system, education villages, and new business centers. In Mississippi, redevelopment, as suggested by new urbanists, may mean replacing damaged communities with resorts, golf courses, boat harbors, and other tourist attractions.

This article focuses on the economic development impacts of natural, as opposed to economic, disasters and ultimately argues that many of the approaches and responses to sudden natural disasters might be effectively applied to areas experiencing more chronic economic decay. An evaluation of federal assistance in the wake of a devastating flood in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, indicates that commitment, cooperation, creativity, inclusivity, and flexibility resulted in a redevelopment framework that generated substantial improvements in a remarkably short time. Critical aspects of responses to sudden natural disasters could be applied to cities experiencing slow death: media attention; a sense of urgency coupled with longrange vision; coordinated federal, state, and foundation assistance; an emphasis on community hope; and a focus on the public sector, public investment, public infrastructure, and public pride.

The purpose of this exploratory study is an attempt to identify public policies that have the potential to increase the economic viability of smaller metropolitan areas and cities. The authors identify characteristics associated with smaller metro areas that performed better than expected (winners) and worse than expected (losers) during the 1990s. The authors then look for evidence that public policy choices may have enhanced a metro area' ability to succeed by examining whether winners and losers are qualitatively different in ways that may indicate consequences of policy choices. A cluster analysis is completed to group the metro areas based on changes in social, economic, and demographic variables during the 1990s. The authors then use contingency table analysis and ANOVA to see if winners and losers are related to the grouping of metro areas in a way that may indicate the presence of government policy.

Examining technology flow patterns is the first step for spillover research. Drawing on patent and citation records from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, this article develops technology flow matrices among regions and industries. The examination of a regional technology flow matrix reveals California's dominant position in new knowledge creation. It also shows that disproportionately large technology flows exist among inventors located in the same state, which strongly implies the presence of localization of technology spillovers. The industry-by-industry technology flow matrix illustrates the importance of two industry groups in knowledge creation: Professional and Scientific Instruments (Standard Industrial Classification [SIC] 38, except 3825) and Electronic Components, Accessories, and Communication Equipment (SIC 366, 367). New technology flow matrices derived in this article have important implications for spillover research and technology policy.

Three streams of research offer results in conflict with the conclusion that governments that provide tax dollars to build sports facilities are wasting money. Hamilton and Kahn and Rosentraub and Swindell found instances where the value placed on the intangible benefits of teams could exceed the cost of facilities. Carlino and Coulson's analysis indicated the presence of a National Football League franchise accounted for an 8% increase in rent levels, and Santo's work, also using regression models, found regions with teams and new facilities had higher income levels. Despite possible regional gains, the value of a sports investment rests on its context and the outcomes for the city and county that invested in the facilities. This analysis focuses on the outcomes for Cleveland and then offers a framework to assess the range of economic effects on investor communities.