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Geographic Targeting Issues in the Delivery of Rural Development Assistance

by Richard Reeder and Faqir Bagi

Economic Information Bulletin No. (EIB-65) 33 pp, April 2010

Cover Image for EIB65 This report uses analysis of the geographic distribution of Federal funding to discuss potential tradeoffs for distressed rural areas when shifting from one form of rural development assistance to another, particularly when shifting to greater use of Government-guaranteed loans. The study also uses correlation analysis to document the extent of targeting rural development programs to highly rural areas and to rural areas experiencing distress in the form of poverty, low employment, and population decline. Findings indicate that distressed rural areas might fare worse than other nonmetro areas with some kinds of shifts, such as reducing grants and direct Government loans to fund increases in guaranteed loans. The effects on distressed areas would depend on the form of distress, the programs involved, and how they are targeted geographically.

Keywords: Rural development, rural policy, community development, guaranteed loans, Federal funds

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Charts and graphs (in .png format) from this report are available in the .zip file listed below. The .zip file also contains a document (readme.txt) that lists the name and title of each chart or graph file.

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Last updated: Saturday, May 26, 2012

For more information contact: Richard Reeder and Faqir Bagi