Excerpts from the report Preface: Local tax concessions and public industrial financing programs are gaining popular acceptance as ways State and local governments can promote economic development. They are of special interest as catalysts for development in rural areas where small new firms may need financial assistance. If effective means of promoting development of rural areas are to be found, information on the effects of these programs is badly needed. Studies of the effects of these programs on local industrial development have been reported in a wide variety of publications, many of which are not readily available either to research workers or to the general public. Although some of the studies cited were made some time ago, these studies are still the basic sources of information on the effects of taxation on industrialization for planners and economists. This report brings together and summarizes the results and conclusions of a number of these studies. The report, however, offers no judgments-- other than those contained in the studies cited--about the usefulness of either tax incentives or industrial financing programs for promoting local industrial development.