Regional Development and the Rural Poor

The regional policy of the President's Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty is based on the assumption that the social costs of bringing industry to relatively poor regions would be less than the social costs involved in the migration of workers and increased congestion and unemployment in industrial areas. However, there is no convincing evidence that central government programs can attract enough industry to the countryside to provide people everywhere with jobs in proximity to their places of residence. On the other hand, federal programs to influence the quality of human resources in lagging rural areas benefit the people of these regions and the nation as a whole. Opportunity cost considerations favor federal subsidies for investment in education, health, and training in lagging regions, as well as for relocation subsidies and information programs to facilitate rational migration towards intermediate regions where growth is rapid but where congestion poses no immediate threat.