Do Federal Place-Based Policies Improve Economic Opportunity in Rural Communities?

Abstract

The U.S. federal government has invested considerable resources in place-based programs to improve local economies, amenities, and infrastructure. Although urban place-based policies have received the most attention, place-based approaches have long been central to efforts addressing rural poverty as well. Using a novel dataset, we document a substantial increase in place-based funding to rural counties from 1990 to 2015. We then assess the association between exposure to place-based funding and socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. We find that living in counties that received more place-based funding is associated with higher educational attainment and greater earnings, but only for those who migrated in adulthood. We conclude that place-based investment may improve economic opportunity via geographic mobility for rural American youth.