Economic Development

Economic DevelopmentEconomic Development

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list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations.You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. Economic development is the development of economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants. From a policy perspective, economic development can be defined as efforts that seek to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for a community by creating and/or retaining jobs and supporting or growing incomes and the tax base.
Overview Overview
There are significant differences between economic growth and economic development. The term "economic growth" refers to the increase (or growth) of a specific measure such as real national income, gross domestic product, or per capita income. National income or product is commonly expressed in terms of a measure of the aggregate value-added output of the domestic economy called gross domestic product (GDP). When the GDP of a nation rises economists refer to it as economic growth.
The term "economic development," on the other hand, implies much more. It typically refers to improvements in a variety of indicators such as literacy rates, life expectancy, and poverty rates. GDP is a specific measure of economic welfare that does not take into account important aspects such as leisure time, environmental quality, freedom, or social justice. Economic growth of any specific measure is not a sufficient definition of economic development.
Local Development Local Daevelopment
The term "economic development"" is often used in a regional sense as well (e.g., a mayor might say that "we need to promote the economic development of our city"). In this sense, economic development focuses on the recruitment of business operations to a region, assisting in the expansion or retention of business operations within a region or assisting in the start-up of new businesses within a region. (See section 'regional policy' below.)
In addition to economic models, the needs of constituency groups guide economic developers actions. For example, a local economic developer working out of a mayor's office may act towards decreasing unemployment by attracting businesses with large labor needs (call centers). The economic developer working for the chamber of commerce dominated by banks, real estate agents and utilities will recruit manufacturers with large capital investments (steel and chemical plants). The economic developer working for the state manufacturers association will lobby for more workforce training money. The economic developer working for a university will concentrate on business start-ups, specifically those based on intellectual property developed by the university (biotech).
In its broadest sense, economic development encompasses three major areas:
1) Policies that governments undertake to meet broad economic objectives such as price stability, high employment, expanded tax base, and sustainable growth. Such efforts include monetary and fiscal policies, regulation of financial institutions, trade, and tax policies.
2) Policies and programs to provide infrastructure and services such as highways, parks, affordable housing, crime prevention, and K-12 education.
3) Policies and programs explicitly directed at job creation and retention through specific efforts in business finance, marketing, neighbourhood development, small business development, business retention and expansion, technology transfer, and real estate development. This third category is a primary focus of economic development professionals.