@article{Partridge:132430,
      recid = {132430},
      author = {Partridge, Mark D. and Olfert, M. Rose and Ali, Kamar},
      title = {Towards a Rural Development Policy: Lessons from the  United States and Canada},
      journal = {Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy},
      address = {2009},
      number = {1100-2016-89638},
      pages = {17},
      year = {2009},
      abstract = {Despite the large sums of money spent to ostensibly  support rural areas since the 1930s, a framework for  assessing U.S. and Canadian rural policy is conspicuously  absent, and thus there is little basis for assessing  effectiveness of public policy and public expenditures in  this area. The purpose of this paper is to propose a  framework based on: 1) broad-based policy ob-jectives; 2) a  small number of measurable targets that reflect these  objectives; and 3) evaluation based on the latest  methodological and data advances. We provide an overview of  policies and programs in the U.S. and Canada that have been  described as rural policy. Using basic descriptive evidence  we show that to date the purported rural policy in both  countries has generally failed to meet any broad-based  objectives. We suggest that successful rural policy is  primarily place-based, rather than being captured by  tangential objectives such as support for particular  sectors or initiatives such as environmental protection. We  conclude by noting that government ministries that  administer place-based (rural) policy should not have a  sector-based orientation—rural policy should be removed  from USDA and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/132430},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.132430},
}