Without proper planning, large-scale industrial growth can be a curse rather than a blessing for rural communities

For decades, rural communities in the US have sought to attract industrial development via tax and zoning incentives and other subsidies. But what happens in the decades which follow after a large company establishes itself? Sudeshna Ghosh and Carla Chifos tracked the effects of Toyota's manufacturing plant on rural counties in Kentucky over three decades. They find that most Toyota-related development occurred in urban rather than rural areas. Rural counties, they write, need to prepare for the positive and negative effects of attracting new large-scale industries.