Governors as Economic Problem Solvers: A Research Commentary

Despite the important role governors have played in shaping states’ economic development strategies, existing quantitative studies of state economic development policymaking have paid only scant attention to the factors that influence governors’ decisions about economic development policy. This stud...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Economic development quarterly 2012-08, Vol.26 (3), p.267-276
Main Author: Taylor, Charles D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Business investment
Data analysis
Discriminant analysis
Economic development
Economic policy
Governors
Investments
Policy making
Quantitative analysis
States
Studies
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Despite the important role governors have played in shaping states’ economic development strategies, existing quantitative studies of state economic development policymaking have paid only scant attention to the factors that influence governors’ decisions about economic development policy. This study investigates these factors using a unique data set of gubernatorial economic development proposals generated by content analyzing hundreds of major legislative addresses delivered by governors during the 12-year period from 1995 to 2006. The findings reveal that gubernatorial economic development policymaking is only partially an attempt to solve a state’s economic problems. Economic policy making by governors appears to be driven largely by a desire to compete for new business investment during periods of economic expansion.
ISSN:0891-2424
1552-3543
DOI:10.1177/0891242412453114