Publications
A collection of all publications authored or co-authored by Center staff and/or partners. This collection is a work in progress—if you don’t find a publication you’re looking for, please search for it, or email us at nercrd@psu.edu.
Publications by type:
Publications by topic:
The NERCRD team invites you to explore our recent work, which leverages and transforms our federal investment into impactful research, synergistic partnerships, and greater capacity in the region and beyond. In 2025, NERCRD delivered on its mission by:
- conducting high-impact research in support of vibrant rural economies
- supporting several knowledge-sharing networks
- organizing public webinars that provided professional development on high-priority topics.
- publishing a bi-monthly newsletter to support the critical work of fostering vibrant rural communities.
Authors: Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: February 24, 2026
To request a copy of an earlier NERCRD annual report (1997-2024), please send an email to nercrd@psu.edu.
In 2024, NERCRD conducted an inventory of the capacity for research and Extension programming in the Northeast U.S. region that corresponds with NERCRD priority areas.
Authors: Stephen Alessi
Publication: NERCRD publication Date Published: March 30, 2025
Tags: Extension
Credit access remains a critical constraint for rural firms. This study examines how the innovation orientation of businesses affects credit access in urban and rural areas using the 2021 Annual Business Survey.
Authors: Luyi Han, Timothy R. Wojan, Anil Rupasingha, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: Elsevier Finance Research Open Date Published: September 17, 2025
Tags: rural innovation
This working paper describes how the number of financial loans and loan amounts per capita vary across different U.S. county types over the period 2000-2022, using Community Reinvestment Act small business loan data.
Authors: Yuxuan Pan, Stephan J. Goetz, and Yuan (Timothy) Zhuang
Publication: NERCRD Rural Development Working Paper Series Date Published: August 20, 2025
Tags: Community Reinvestment Act, RDP
The Allegheny National Forest region offers significant potential for sustainable tourism growth by balancing environmental protection and economic development. Researchers from West Virginia University and Penn State and their local collaborators drew on the perspectives of ANF visitors and residents in a survey conducted in 2024. This article shares key findings from the survey.
Authors: Claudia Schmidt, Douglas Arbogast, Jinyang Deng, and Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: Penn State Extension Date Published: June 25, 2025
Tags: outdoor recreation, tourism, TRIP
Abstract: Described as a mediation between people and technology, design is critical to innovative entrepreneurship but has been ignored in innovation research. The rigorous study of design has suffered from an inability to differentiate firms that approach design as ad hoc from those approaching design as a structured, creative process. This research uses newly available data from the 2022 Annual Business Survey Design Module categorizing 4 different approaches to design. These data allow us to examine the link between design and innovation with a focus on businesses in nonmetropolitan counties that challenges conventional wisdom that design is overwhelmingly an urban phenomenon.
A news release describing the key findings and their implications is available here.
Authors: Timothy Wojan, Luyi Han, Zheng Tian, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Date Published: June 18, 2025
Tags: rural innovation
This report presents findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey. A total of 136 survey participants identified themselves as being in a Western region states by reporting the postal (ZIP) code of their farm. (To access the national-level findings, visit this page.) This survey is part of a larger project aimed at defining and enhancing the agritourism support system in the United States.
Authors: Jason Entsminger, Claudia Schmidt, Sarah Cornelisse, and Jackie Schweichler
Publication: NERCRD Research Brief Date Published: June 3, 2025
Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief, data brief
This “Research Snapshot” describes the caregiving experience for rural, suburban, and urban caregivers in the Northeast region of the U.S., as reported by households as part of the “NER-Stat: Caregiving Survey” — a regional household survey that the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) conducted in collaboration with Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD), The Ohio State University and the National Farm Medicine Center. The survey was conducted in 2023 with 4,480 responses from the 13 states of the Northeast Region through a Qualtrics online panel. The dataset that this brief draws upon is also available as an open-access resource.
Authors: Elana Pojman and Florence Becot
Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: June 1, 2025
Tags: caregiving
This report presents Maine-specific findings from the 2024 National Agritourism Producer Survey, conducted in part to address the type of knowledge gaps just identified. The online survey was open from March through August 2024, and 2,139 agritourism operators across the United States responded. A total of 94 survey participants identified themselves as being in Maine by reporting the postal (ZIP) code of their farm.
Authors: Jason Entsminger (University of Maine); Claudia Schmidt (Penn State and NERCRD); Sarah Cornelisse and Jackie Schweichler (Penn State)
Publication: Published by NERCRD Date Published: May 2, 2025
Tags: agritourism, agritourism data brief, data brief, survey
