Archive for Economic Development, Resilience, and Innovation
Land-Grant University Capacity to Support Recreation Economies in National Forest Gateway Communities
This report was developed by Doug Arbogast, Rural Tourism Specialist, West Virginia University Extension Service, with support from the Extension Foundation, Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs), and the members of the National Extension Outdoor Recreation Working Group (NEORWG). It describes findings from an assessment conducted in 2024 of the capacity of Land Grant Universities to provide both Extension and research support for the development of recreation economies, and to determine the places in each RRDC region best positioned to deploy resources for program implementation. Arbogast’s analysis also includes two map resources:
- A data dashboard showing USDA RD investments already made in counties that contain a national forest.
- A map designed to identify opportunities for USDA Partnerships (Extension, Forest Service, and Rural Development) to support the development of recreation economies in gateway communities to U.S. National Forests. This map’s layers include Land Grant institutions that responded to the recreation economy survey, USDA Rural Development locations, USDA Forest Service locations, National Forest gateway communities, and regions served by the National Extension Tourism Network and the RRDCs.
Authors: Doug Arbogast, West Virginia University
Publication: Published by Extension Foundation and NERCRD Date Published: September 20, 2024
Tags: neorwg, NET, outdoor recreation
Did the U.S. Fracking Boom Shale-Shock Regional Patenting?
The shale boom of the early 21st century turned the U.S. into an energy powerhouse and significantly disrupted local economies with shale resources. This study examines the impacts of the U.S. shale boom on regional patenting at a commuting zone level. The shale boom may negatively affect patents if it crowds out labor and capital investments in other non-energy industries. Our findings show that a one standard deviation increase in non-vertical well density decreases patent intensity by 3.74% of the mean. Areas with higher drilling densities have lower levels of patented innovation compared to their counterfactuals. This paper contributes to the existing literature related to the “natural resource curse.” We provide new evidence based on regional patenting, which is an important indicator for regional innovation and long-term economic growth.
Authors: Luyi Han, John V. Winters
Publication: Growth and Change Date Published: September 17, 2024
Rural Tourism During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on U.S. tourism, but its effects were not uniform across the country. A study conducted by researchers from Penn State and West Virginia University reveals that some rural communities actually experienced employment gains in the leisure and hospitality sector during this period. Learn more in this NERCRD Digest.
Authors: NERCRD Staff
Publication: NERCRD Digest Date Published: August 20, 2024
Tags: COVID-19, NERCRD Digest, outdoor recreation, tourism
Innovation in Rural Firms
Innovation lies at the heart of most entrepreneurial activity, and the goal of NERCRD’s work in this area is to deepen the understanding of whether and how entrepreneurial innovation can mitigate the growing economic threats facing rural U.S. workers and communities. Through a USDA NIFA-funded project, which ran from May 2018 through April 2023, the research team used a newly available dataset that, for the first time, allowed for in-depth research to examine the roles of different types of innovation in the success of rural businesses. Learn more in this NERCRD Digest.
Authors: NERCRD Staff
Publication: NERCRD Digest Date Published: August 15, 2025
Tags: NERCRD Digest, rural innovation
Cloud computing and rural globalization: Evidence for the U.S. nonfarm economy
Abstract: We use confidential firm-level data to examine the association between export intensity and subscription to cloud computer services – a technology that often requires very high-speed broadband. Our focus on rural nonfarm exports is motivated by the increasing concentration of manufacturing—the dominant export sector—in nonmetropolitan counties and the large public investment in extending high-speed broadband to underserved parts of the U.S. We find that cloud computing is associated with higher export intensity that is consistent with exporting activity placing new demands on IT-enabled functions such as order fulfillment and tracking, marketing, or document control.
Read a news release about this research here.
Authors: Luyi Han, Timothy Wojan, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: Telecommunications Policy Date Published: June 15, 2024
