Assessing the Impact of Prison Siting On Rural Economic Development

Abstract

From 1980 to 2002, the U.S. prison population grew from 330,000 to 1,350,000 inmates. To house these prisoners, hundreds of new prisons were constructed in non-metro counties. Most communities accepted prisons on the promise of new jobs and the hope of economic development, but little research has been done to determine the actual economic development value these institutions provide to the rural counties where they are located. In order to measure the impact of new prisons on the rural economy, this research compares indicators of economic development between non-metro counties with new prisons and similar non-metro counties without prisons. Prisons, as a public good, are limited in their ability to stimulate economic development.