This book addresses the economic history and future of small cities and towns across the country, as they have and will continue to see dramatic shifts in the roles they play in the extant larger economies. The book addresses the difficult questions asked by these communities as they face an uncertain future. Can the small cities and towns of this country survive and, if so, what economic roles can they play? Must they return to the days of being essentially self-sufficient? Or, is it possible that they will become epicenters of progress in the United States?

As the global recession of 2008 and beyond took hold of the American economy, smaller markets were disproportionately affected by job losses as well as the resultant brain drains, tax base reductions, diminished housing values, and diminishment of their overall quality of life. So it is not surprising that these smaller markets face unique challeng

The economic history of the recent decade has been volatile at best, and devastating at its worst. The effects have tended to be most severe in the small, isolated towns of America. The Economic Survival of America's Isolated Small Towns presents a detailed discussion of the economic challenges facing these small towns, looking at why some have sur

Important differences persist between rural and urban America, despite profound economic changes and the notorious homogenizing influence of the media. As Glenn V. Fuguitt, David L. Brown, and Calvin L. Beale show in Rural and Small Town America, the much-heralded disappearance of small town life has not come to pass, and the nonmetropolitan population still constitutes a significant dimension of our nation's social structure. Based on census and other recent survey data, this impressive study provides a detailed and comparative picture of rural America. The authors find that size of place is a critical demographic factor, affecting population composition (rural populations are older and more predominantly male than urban populations), the distribution of poverty (urban poverty tends to be concentrated in neighborhoods; rural poverty may extend over large blocks of counties), and employment opportunities (job quality and income are lower in rural areas, though rural occupational patterns are converging with those of urban areas). In general, rural and small town America still lags behind urban America on many indicators of social well-being. Pointing out that rural life is no longer synonymous with farming, the authors explore variations among nonmetropolitan populations. They also trace the impact of major national trends—the nonmetropolitan growth spurt of the 1970s and its current reversal, for example, or changing fertility rates—on rural life and on the relationship between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan communities. By describing the special characteristics and needs of rural populations as well as the features they share with urban America, this book clearly demonstrates that a more accurate picture of nonmetropolitan life is essential to understanding the larger dynamics of our society. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Census Series

Entrepreneurship is a human universal. All over the world, and throughout history, people have created businesses. Yet, although women make up more than 50 percent of the world population, they own and manage significantly fewer businesses than men. Venture types and management styles vary across genders as well. Women entrepreneurship presents several distinctive characteristics that differentiate it from men entrepreneurship. But variations exist also across women entrepreneurs in various countries, and between women who are involved in entrepreneurship and those who are not. Overall, the explanation for the behavior of women entrepreneurs and its distinctiveness is complex and multifaceted. Evidence to date suggests that reasons contributing to explaining these differences include demographic and socio-economic variables, subjective perceptions, and cultural factors and institutions, and that such differences have significant implications at the macro-economic level. Studying female entrepreneurship allows researchers to ask questions that shed light on the linkages between entrepreneurship and wealth creation, employment choices and cognition, human capital accumulation and labor market structure, employment choice and family dynamics, business creation and peace, and many others. From a scientific point of view, the study of female entrepreneurship as a distinct area of inquiry informs us not only about women behavior, but also about entrepreneurial and human behaviors in general. All over the world, female entrepreneurship has become an important component of academic and policy conversations around entrepreneurship. Still, there is much we don't yet understand. Taking stock of what has been learned so far, identifying the main gaps, and encourage scholars to push the frontier of knowledge in this area further are the goals of this work.