Spring 2005 Course Description
Policy Research Project
Description: Communities with nearby military facilities have repeatedly faced the prospect of losing the economic contribution (direct spending and related employment) that military installations provide. Drawing on the social impact analysis literature, the project will assess the economic impact of base closing in rural areas through an examination of the evidence from four previous rounds of military base closings (1988, 1991, 1993, 1995). The central research question is, ?Have rural areas suffered disproportionately from closings compared to closing in more urbanized areas??
Rural areas, because they generally have less diverse economies may find the impact of a military base closing more significant than a base closing in an area with a large and diverse local economy. An analysis of all rural base closings that resulted in significant economic dislocation or a regionally representative sampling of rural base closing should provide a useful data base for Congressional Research Service support of congressional inquiry. Comparisons of job loss/generation, business expansion, per capita income decrease/increase, population growth/loss, etc., should be useful information for such an assessment.
In addition to reviewing secondary local/regional economic data, the project will also develop a survey of local officials to gather more site-specific information about the development issues that confront particular rural areas. Surveys of local areas will indicate whether base closings had negative impacts that persist or whether the local rural areas have, in the intervening years, created new sources of economic growth. How and why some rural areas have prospered in the face of closings and others have not are key research issues.
The objective is to provide the U.S. Congress with a basis for assessing the economic development implications of closing particular bases. While the military savings are a significant factor in the decisions on which bases to close, Congress will also want to minimize the economic dislocation that can occur to rural areas. Many closed bases also cut across multiple jurisdictions, complicating all sorts of development processes, such as zoning and building permits. Such concerns could also influence Congress to consider various mitigation strategies should certain rural areas be targeted for base closure.
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