You Decide: What are the challenges facing North Carolina’s counties?
Later this month, I will be honored to speak at the annual meeting of the
North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.
Founded 100 years ago, this group represents the level of government in
North Carolina that, along with municipalities, is closest to households
and businesses. Among their more important duties, county governments
provide local funds for public schools, operate public assistance programs
and provide law enforcement through the courts system and sheriff’s
office.
Counties are also involved in economic development, and it is on this
responsibility that I will focus my comments.
What is clearly evident when the 100 counties of North Carolina are
compared is that their economic performance has varied. On one side, North
Carolina has some of the fastest-growing counties in the country,
including counties attracting the very highest-paying jobs. But on the
other side, our state has many counties struggling to keep jobs.
Here’s a preview of the key points I will make to the commissioners about
where our counties are now, how they got there and what can shape and
change counties in the future.
North Carolina’s counties are growing further apart./ Just as there’s
been a recent trend of growing income inequality in the nation, so has
there been among our counties. Richer North Carolina counties have grown
faster and richer than poorer North Carolina counties. This has created a
wider income gap between our state’s have and have not counties.
Economic forces impacted North Carolina’s counties differently./ Big
forces shaped the economy during the last three decades: globalization
brought about by advances in communication and transportation technology;
enhanced competition created by deregulation of major industries and the
reduction in world trade barriers; increasing benefits to workers from
more education; and the development of the service economy.
While these forces have been pervasive, they have affected counties in
different ways. Counties with more college graduates, with “new economy”
industries like technology, finance and health care, and with strong ties
to export markets, have thrived in the new economic world. Conversely,
counties lacking workers with advanced degrees and with an economic base
tied to industries that have lost sales to international competitors have
not done well.
The most important driving economic force is education./ Research that I
and others have done both for North Carolina and for other states confirms
that, among all the forces shaping our economy, education stands out as
the most important. Simply put, both people and places that have invested
in education have done well in the modern world, while others have not.
Education, or the lack of it, is the key factor causing the increased
income inequality among both workers and counties.
Economic development can be people-based or place-based./ Improving the
economy of a county can take two tracks. The first is to focus on
improving the skills of the workers in the county by upgrading their
education and training. The expectation is that well-paying new economy
jobs will be attracted to a qualified workforce. The downside of this
people approach is that workers can take their new skills and leave the
county in pursuit of jobs elsewhere.
The alternative is place-based economic development, which focuses on
investments in the county that can’t be moved, like roads, water and
sewer, airport development and energy resources. Studies have shown a
positive impact from these investments, particularly from roads and
airports. Still, the research suggests a place-based focus can’t alone
ensure economic development. A qualified, skilled workforce must also be
available.
A composite strategy appears to work best./ The largest single category
of state and local public expenditures in North Carolina is education.
Therefore, it can be argued the people-based approach is the major thrust
of economic development in our state. However, substantial place-based
spending comes from transportation, energy and water and sewer projects.
In recent years our state and local governments have used another
place-based strategy to tie economic development to a particular location:
business incentives. In this case, a new business receives a reduction in
their taxes if they agree to locate in a particular county and create a
certain number of jobs. While controversial, the tactic can move jobs to
where they’re most needed.
Some say local government is where the action is in today’s economy. I’m
hopeful my comments will put a perspective on this action, but you decide!
Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at North Carolina State University who teaches and writes on personal finance, economic outlook, and public policy.