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:
Rural US Residents Recognize Anxiety Better than Urbanites and Suburbanites but Hold Similar Stigma
Recognizing signs of psychological distress is a critical first step in assisting people who are struggling with poor mental health to access help. However, community-level factors that impact recognition and stigma are underexplored. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between rurality, other community-level variables, and individual variables with regard to the recognition and stigma of anxiety.
Authors: Scott Loveridge, Mark Skidmore, Robert Shupp, Paula K. Miller, Courtney Cuthbertson, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: The Journal of Rural Health Date Published: March 29, 2023
Tags: mental health
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Investing in Rural Recovery: Comprehensive Summary of National Rural Development Stakeholder Listening Sessions
This report summarizes results from the an initiative carried out by the Regional Rural Development Centers in 2021 and 2022 to identify investments needed to fill the gaps between rural communities’ assets and opportunities. These facilitated dialogues included four sessions conducted at the regional level focusing on issues of regional importance, and four national sessions on topics of widespread importance.
Authors: Jason Entsminger, John Green, Rachel Welborn, Renee Wiatt, Z. Bednarikova, Rianna Gayle, and Yuxuan Pan
Publication: Published by the Regional Rural Development Centers Date Published: February 27, 2023
Tags: COVID-19
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2022 Annual Report
This report summarizes annual accomplishments and activities at the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.
Authors: Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
Date Published: February 1, 2023
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The NET Effect: Members of the National Extension Tourism Network Help Raise the Bar in Sustainable Tourism and Outdoor Recreation
This 57-page publication is available here as a Flipping Book or here as a PDF (6.8MB). It contains eight case studies that explore innovative Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant work in sustainable tourism and outdoor recreation. It features work being done in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia.
The magazine is an outcome of a partnership of the National Extension Tourism (NET) design team, the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development (NERCRD), and the New Technologies for Ag Extension (NTAE) grant program.
Authors: Heather Martin, Rose Hayden-Smith, and Kristen Devlin
Publication: Published by the Extension Foundation Date Published: January 22, 2023
Tags: NET, NTAE
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The U.S. Recreation Economy: Data, COVID-19, and Implications for Extension
The breadth, depth, and speed of the economic collapse associated with the COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented in economic history. No sector was hit harder than Leisure and Hospitality, which accounts for the economic core of tourism and recreation-based activity. Only recently has employment in this sector begun to show signs of recovery toward pre-pandemic levels. Here we document the importance of the Leisure and Hospitality sector to the economy and identify impacts from the pandemic and recovery, at both state and local (county) levels. Selected implications for Extension Services programming by Land- and Sea-Grant institutions are highlighted.
Authors: Stephan J. Goetz, Luyi Han, Daniel Eades, Jason Entsminger, Doug Arbogast
Publication: 2021 NET Conference Proceedings Date Published: October 4, 2022
Tags: COVID-19
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An Examination of the Informational Value of Self-Reported Innovation Questions
Self-reported innovation measures provide an alternative means for examining the economic performance of firms or regions. While European researchers have been exploiting the data from the Community Innovation Survey for over two decades, uptake of U.S. innovation data has been much slower. This paper uses a restricted innovation survey designed to differentiate incremental innovators from more far-ranging innovators and compares it to responses in the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) and the Business R&D and Innovation Survey (BRDIS) to examine the informational value of these positive innovation measures. The analysis begins by examining the association between the incremental innovation measure in the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey (REIS) and a measure of the inter-industry buying and selling complexity. A parallel analysis using BRDIS and ASE reveals such an association may vary among surveys, providing additional insight on the informational value of various innovation profiles available in self-reported innovation surveys.
Authors: Zheng Tian, Timothy R. Wojan, Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: U.S. Census Bureau Working Paper Number CES-22-46 Date Published: October 1, 2022
Tags: rural innovation
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Impacts of COVID-19 on Northeast Tourism and Recreation Economies
NERCRD COVID-19 Data Brief 22-02: This data brief characterizes tourism-related economic changes in the Northeast during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparisons between rural and metro counties are highlighted, showing that different tourism and recreation economies experienced the pandemic’s effects differently too.
Download the data brief:
Data Supplement
Download detailed Northeast state-level data here.
Authors: Jason Entsminger, Luyi Han, and Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: NERCRD COVID-19 Issues Brief Series Date Published: July 27, 2022
Tags: COVID-19, COVID-19 Data Briefs
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Impacts of COVID-19 on Northeast Economic Activity
NERCRD COVID-19 Data Brief 22-01: This brief is the first in a series to summarize the economic impacts of COVID-19 on Northeastern communities. In subsequent briefs, the series will highlight impacts in key industries and sectors.
Data Supplement
Download an excel spreadsheet providing GDP data at the regional and state level for the Northeast US, to accompany NERCRD Data Brief 22-01, “Impacts of COVID-19 on Northeast Economic Activity.”
Authors: Jason Entsminger, Luyi Han, and Stephan J. Goetz
Publication: NERCRD COVID-19 Issues Brief Series Date Published: July 27, 2022
Tags: COVID-19, COVID-19 Data Briefs
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Linking research and practice: The role of Extension on agritourism development in the U.S.
Agritourism is a critical farm diversification strategy for farmers to enhance income and profit potential with benefits related to rural community development, increased awareness of sustainability practices, and local heritage preservation. For rural community and economic development professionals, agritourism has become an important strategy to develop local tourism, grow small businesses, and enhance regional economic diversification. We propose that the agritourism ecosystem would arguably benefit from more robust Extension programming and network development. A discussion of two state case studies, Vermont and California, provides an overview of the critical elements necessary to build a statewide agritourism program. The role of Extension in rural development and tourism underscores the opportunity to utilize agritourism as a broader development strategy. Finally, we make recommendations for growing the role of Extension in agritourism. More robust training and education for Extension professionals, stronger connections to state tourism departments, and more robust advocacy with university and state-level decision makers on the value of agritourism investments are all highlighted as crucial next steps.
Authors: Claudia Schmidt, Lisa Chase, Carla Barbieri, Ellie Rilla, Doolarie Singh Knights, Dawn Thilmany, Stacy Tomas, Lori Dickes, Sarah Cornelisse, R. David Lamie, Rachael Callahan, Holly George, and Penny Leff
Publication: Applied Economics Teaching Resources Date Published: July 1, 2022
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Facility locations in the fresh produce supply chain: An integration of optimization and empirical methods
Facility locations are crucial determinants of supply chain efficiency for aggregating and distributing products. The multi-disciplinary nature of the facility location problem requires multiple complementary approaches, at different levels of aggregation, to accommodate the salient features of location determinants. This study examines the facility location problem for the U.S. fresh produce supply chain. We present a model that incorporates an empirical scenario into a facility location problem in order to capture much of the information required to make an optimal location decision. Our results suggest that the reliability of facility locations can be improved without significantly increasing the operating costs. This study sheds light on how the application of complementary modeling approaches improves the effectiveness of facility location solutions.
Authors: Houtian Ge, Stephan J. Goetz, Rebecca Cleary, Jing Yi, Miguel Gómez
Publication: International Journal of Production Economics Date Published: July 1, 2022
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