The role of social infrastructure in rural community economic development in Kentucky, 1970 to 1990

Neo-classical theories of rural economic development, and their associated policies, have had limited success in providing viable strategies for rural economic change. The persistent economic problems faced in rural areas despite investment in physical and human capital have challenged standard models of development and brought into question the importance of local initiative in coordinating and capitalizing on local resources. Because both academic and public policy models for rural areas emphasize the importance of physical and economic infrastructure, the role of local initiative is often neglected.;The concept of social infrastructure provides a basis for linking traditional neoclassical explanations of rural and community development with sociological perspectives that stress the role of local citizens in the development process. The concept of social infrastructure suggests that particular social relationships can affect economic outcomes in significant ways. In rural community economic development, the way individuals and groups capitalize on local information, trust networks, and norms of reciprocity may affect the productivity of resources and ultimately economic outcomes.;This study introduces a framework in which to test the hypothesis that the quality of social infrastructure in a community is related to its economic well-being. A quantitative analysis of Kentucky's rural counties is conducted for the decades 1970 to 1990, using data from 1970, 1980, and 1990. This analysis provides an assessment of the relationship between various measures of economic, human capital, and social infrastructure resources to community median family income.;The results of the study provide mixed support for the argument that social infrastructure has an affect on median family income. There is some support for the argument that higher community support for education, lower levels of community inequality, and well established community chamber of commerce offices are associated with community well-being as measured by median family income. One of the most important findings in this dissertation is the relationship between community education levels and community social infrastructure. In this study of 98 rural Kentucky counties, these variables were found to be statistically interrelated. This suggest that community social infrastructure may be imbedded in measures of community education.