Are We at an Inflection Point in Community Economic Development? The 4 ^th Wave

Over the past several years, state and local governments, along with supportive community organizations, have shifted their focus from exclusively targeting businesses and jobs to prioritizing people. Increasingly, communities are asking, “What can we do to make this a better place to live and work?” Using data from U.S. counties, the author estimates a Carlino-Mills partial adjustment equilibrium model by decade from 1970 to 2020. The findings suggest that, while there is evidence supporting the notions that people follow jobs as well as jobs following people, increasingly the data tend to suggest jobs following people is more prevalent. This finding reinforces the importance of attracting and retaining residents alongside the traditional focus on business and job growth.