Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Routes to economic development attract considerable attention in community and rural sociology. Social scientists draw increasingly on studies of social capital and environmental surroundings as they examine the factors that facilitate and inhibit economic development. However, few empirical analyses exist that empirically test the interaction of social infrastructure and natural capital on different forms of economic development. The current study addresses this disparity by incorporating diverse theoretical traditions into a more comprehensive model of economic development. Using data collected from six communities in Washington State, the interaction of a community’s social infrastructure and natural capital on industrial recruitment and self-development efforts are examined. Results suggest that while natural capital is positively associated with a community’s successful recruitment of outside industries, it is not significant for a community’s level of self-development. However, a community’s social infrastructure, measured by the existence of active civic organizations, local businesses that support local community projects, community-wide fund-raising capacity, and extra-local linkages to nearby communities and state and national agencies, is positively associated with both industrial recruitment and self-development. These findings illustrate the need for communities and local activists to carefully weigh their advantages and potential shortcomings when deciding on an economic development strategy.