What's a City To Do? Explaining Differences in Local Economic Development Policies

conomic development has become perhaps the critical item on r ~ the policy agendas of American communities. Faced with major economic and social changes, intense citizen demands, and declining federal aid, local leaders have adopted a host of policies to promote the economic and fiscal health of their communities. Some observers have criticized such efforts as an arms race in which local officials adopt virtually any tactic in order to keep up with the compe-tition even though such policies have limited effect on business deci-sions (Grady 1987; Wolman 1988). Arms race imagery is reinforced by the advice given to policy-makers, which tends toward shopping lists of incentives, organizational plans, analytical techniques, and pro-cesses believed to promote development (see Farr 1984; Malizia 1985; Blakely 1989). There are two problems with this intense preoccupation with eco-nomic development that has been marked by a level of consensus and