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This document, titled “REPP-1990-Howland.pdf,” is a research paper from the University of Maryland’s Institute for Urban Studies, dated January 5, 1990, and addressed to Maureen Kennedy at the Aspen Institute. The paper discusses the role of services in rural economic growth, focusing on direct-export and import-substituting services. Key aspects of the document include:
- Study Purpose: To analyze how direct-export and import-substituting services contribute to stabilizing and revitalizing rural economies.
- Data Source: The study primarily uses the U.S. Establishment and Enterprise Microdata (USEEM) file from the Small Business Administration (SBA), covering SIC codes 40 through 89 for 1980 and 1986.
- Study States: Six states were selected for analysis: California, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia. The selection criteria included regional representation, variation in urban vs. rural population distribution, and differences in city size.
- Advantages of USEEM Data: The USEEM file offers detailed employment and location information at the individual establishment level, allowing for fine-grained geographical and industrial analysis. It also includes telephone numbers for cross-checking data and allows for time-series analysis to track sources of economic growth (startups, expansions, migration, closures).
- Limitations of USEEM Data: The document acknowledges limitations such as incomplete coverage of branch locations, understating of new firm startups due to reporting lags, and delays in recognizing business dissolutions.
- Data Validation: The authors conducted checks for random errors in employment figures and miscoded SIC codes, including telephone surveys to verify data.
- Comparison with Other Data Sources: The USEEM data generally show higher employment totals than BLS and CBP data, mainly because USEEM includes small businesses without paid employees (sole proprietors, unpaid family members, active partners).
- Rural Service Employment Findings:
- Rural counties have a smaller proportion of corporate service employment (13-17%) compared to urban counties (25-33%).
- Rural and urban counties have similar proportions of distributive and consumer service employment.
- Rural counties have a larger proportion of employment in non-profit and retailing services.
- Major service categories are generally over-represented in metropolitan counties relative to their share of state population.
- Producer services are most concentrated in the largest cities, while retailing is the most decentralized.
The document also provides detailed tables comparing USEEM data with County Business Patterns data for various industries and states, and presents demographic and economic characteristics of the study states.
