What Is an Economic Development Analysis?
Economic development improves the social and economic well-being of communities and regions. It includes activities undertaken to support new business and the expansion of existing industry. Economic development is also a competitive process, pitting communities in a race to promote themselves as the ideal locations for doing business. An economic development analysis helps a community take stock of its position as a magnet for attracting new investment and jobs.
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Function
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An economic development analysis applies the principles of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis to assess the position of a city or community for attracting new businesses and jobs. SWOT analysis surveys the internal and external environments in which an organization operates, identifying its strengths and weaknesses (internal factors), as well as opportunities and threats (external). An analysis prepared for downtown Dayton, Ohio, for example, followed the SWOT approach.
Significance
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Economic development is a competitive process, as cities and towns compete among themselves to promote their areas as attractive sites for new business, as well as the growth and expansion of existing firms. Business relocations and expansions create additional jobs and investment, which translates to added revenues and growth for communities. Economic development analysis gauges a community's position as a business-friendly environment and often marks the first step in a community's efforts to attract new industries and jobs.
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Features
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Although an economic development analysis can vary in structure, most analyses contain demographic, business, local government, infrastructure, and real estate information. Demographic information may include the distribution of residents by education level and home ownership status. Analyses may survey the level of residential and commercial construction activity in the area, include information about local government taxation levels and the quality of physical infrastructure, such as streets and sewer systems. While preparing the study, analysts may interview local leaders and real estate professionals. An analysis of Wilson, North Carolina, provides a useful example.
Benefits
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Communities can use the information in an economic development analysis to more effectively market themselves to industries considering relocation. Communities can highlight identified strengths. Further, the analysis can survey external conditions, such as the larger business environment and other factors that present opportunities or threats for economic development efforts.
Effects
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In response to the findings of economic development studies, local governments and community leaders can take appropriate actions to address identified weaknesses and make their communities more competitive. For example, a city with strong infrastructure and an educated work force, but a cumbersome process for approving business permits, can highlight those strengths. Elected leaders, meanwhile, can streamline the permit process.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit diagrams of development image by Attila Toro from Fotolia.com
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Comments
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1:Transpotation: The Government must build the favaurble effective roads which access all villagesin the country. Will facilitate the transpotation of goods in and out of communities living in villages. But also the railways is very important to the country for the huge package of goods and Agricultural materials. 2: Electricity power availabillity: The major source of power in country's development is elecricity. The developing countries depend on the the hydro-electical pewer for their economy. The power used in industrie's production, agricultural product processing, transpotation in some countries etc. 3.Education: The technolodge cannot achieved inabscence of the common knowlege that is education. the develope coountries their people are well educated compared to developing countries. Adaptation on development depends even the educational development. 4: Health: The healthier people the hardworkers; it meaning that the healthy people has oppotunity to to access the production compared with to non preventive people. The health people expose more time on work hence more production. But the illitrate and healthless expose very minimal time to wdork hence low production.
