Smart Subsidy for Community Development

A Joint Publication by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and The Aspen Institute
July 2011

An exploration of the history and current use of subsidy in community development and how public incentives are being used in smart ways to promote investments in lower-income communities and economic opportunity for lower-income individuals and families.

Features

• A primer on the role of subsidy in economic and community development
• An overview of the historical and current use of public incentives in community development
• Research on how subsidy is being used efficiently and effectively to promote community development

Complete Book (122 pp.)

Contents

Introduction
Anna Steiger, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, David Black, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Kirsten Moy, The Aspen Institute Public

Public Incentives in Community Development

• The Economics of Subsidies for Community Development: A Primer    
  Robert K. Triest, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
• Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?
  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Tax Expenditures and Social Policy: A Primer
  Daniel Mandel, formerly at the New America Foundation
• Community Development and Federal Subsidies: A View from 40,000 Feet
  Alan Okagaki, Alan Okagaki & Associates

Smart Use of Subsidy in Community Development

• Subsidy and the Charter School Facilities Finance Market
  Annie Donovan, NCB Capital Impact
• Public Subsidy as a Catalyst for Private-Sector Solutions: Creating Job Opportunities for People Who Face Barriers to Employment
  Carla I. Javits, REDF
• Using Tax Policy to Subsidize Homeownership
  Richard K. Green, University of Southern California and Andrew Reschovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Community Development Financial Institutions in Civic Ecosystems
  Robin Newberger, Michael Berry, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, David Black, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Kirsten Moy, The Aspen Institute
• What Makes for a Smart Community or Economic Development Subsidy? A Program Evaluation Perspective 
  Martin D. Abravanel, Nancy M. Pindus, and Brett Theodos, the Urban Institute

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