Economic Stability and Economic Growth in Rural Communities: Dimensions Relevant to Local Employment Creation Strategy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Approaches for analyzing employment stability with aggregated data for SICs in large regions or major metropolitan areas are misleading indicators of the impact of manufacturing growth in rural areas. Performance of moderate‐sized individual establishments seriously impact total employment variation in small‐employment‐sized rural communities, requiring analysis of the determinants of employment stability of these establishments. Aggregate SIC performance and most conventional criteria for judging probable stability appear to provide very limited predictability for individual firm performance. However, manufacturing development appears generally to have desirable effects on community‐wide employment stability.