Economic Development: Building Cities for the Future

In cities across the US, governments use an array of policies to boost their local economies and promote growth and innovation. Economic developers frequently make use of tools like tax incentives, abatements, and exemptions to attract and retain businesses. They create manufacturing and innovation hubs and promise a supply of skilled workers for firms who choose to locate in their city. While billions of dollars are spent by local governments on economic development, the impact of this investment is still uncertain. In this webinar, we consult with experts to discuss challenges facing city economic developers in the US including the costs of business incentives, frictions in local labor markets, and the political factors influencing economic development. This webinar is part of a course at Stanford GSB titled Public Policy Lab: Financial Challenges Facing US Cities. The class (ALP 307) is an experiential learning class that is part of Stanford GSB’s Action Learning Program. The students and teaching team have partnered with three cities across the country, each a different size, in different regions, and with different economic and political landscapes. The class works with city officials to assess current policies, conduct research, and make data-driven, evidence-based policy proposals. Speakers: Dr. Tim Bartik – Senior Economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Dr. Becky Lester – Associate Professor of Accounting at Stanford GSB and Research Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research and Hoover Institution Dr. David Neumark – Distinguished Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy at the University of California-Irvine Moderated by: Dr. Joshua Rauh –Ormond Family Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).