Enhancing Economic Opportunities in Rural Areas: Discussion San Antonio, Texas November 6, 2003 Tom Johnson University of Missouri – Columbia

Why rural and regional economics? ► New demands for decision support and policy analysis  Local and state governments competing for economic development and tax revenues  Expanded rural development title in farm bill  International interests ► OECD priorities ► Rural, Regional and Spatial Policy in the EU, Canada and elsewhere ► Evolving focus of trade issues ► New spatial theories, spatial analysis techniques, and growth in spatial data

Research Strategies ► Geographic Information Science  Application of information science to spatial processes  Agricultural Economist can be leaders in this field ► Place-based economic theory  Endogenous (place influenced) utility functions ► Local governance  Local finance, e-governance, e-government

Education Strategies ► Spatial Analysis and Econometrics  Essential to understanding rural economies  Will link rural economics to resource and agricultural economics ► Public sector economics  Local and state finance  E-government, e-governance, e-commerce

Extension Strategies ► Cooperative extension has been one of the first casualties of local finance problems ► Extension must be an asset rather than a liability to local governments

Policy Strategies ► Farm families are more dependent on their communities than communities are on their farms ► Economically sustainable communities should be the first step towards a competitive and profitable agriculture sector, and sound environmental and natural resource strategies.

Conclusions ► Devolution and globalization will continue to increase the demand for local, community and regional policy analysis ► Our theories, methods and data are improving ► Education and research are key ► Issues are global – international collaboration in education and research is needed THANK YOU