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All together the various definitions below provide a comprehensive
view of economic development. We started collecting
definitions years ago when one of our .network user
group asked about an official meaning for the term. We've searched
for operative words and expressions that are universally
understood as associated with economic development since answering
the question. Our effort has been to find and quote the unique and
most notable sources. Some sources see economic
development as a practice. The Network definition focuses on it
as a
process. To search the Web from the
library, CLICK
HERE.
economic development:
... refers
to the deliberate effort to improve the economy of a specified
geographic area,
which can be as large as an entire nation-state or as limited
as a city neighborhood. Stating that it is a process,
the source points out that it's a challenge put measures in place
that would indicate
whether or to what degree improvement take place in a location.
The source notes that economic development may be an activity
specifically undertaken but that ... the
same intended consequences
might also take place spontaneously, without any deliberate
efforts to
achieve them ... and attributes the
existence of the practice of economic development to the observation
that what locations desire don't often spontaneously appear.
economic development:
... any effort or undertaking which
aids in the growth of the economy more.
economic development:
... the process of creating wealth
through the mobilization of human, financial, capital,
physical and natural resources to generate marketable
goods and services. The (practitioner's) role
is to influence the process for the benefit of the community through
expanding job opportunities and the tax baseAEDC/1984. After
publishing the definition the American Economic Development
Council later reaffirmed it,
adding that practitioners are
essentially involved in a specialized form of marketingresource
file.
economic development:
... (is about) jobs,
income, and
community prosperityis
a continuing challenge to modern societymore
of the quote from the aims and scope of its source.
economic development:
... is fundamentally about enhancing
the factors of productive capacityland,
labor, capital, and technology - of a national, state
or local economymore.
economic development:
... can be "described" by
objectives of which the most common are the ... creation
of jobs and wealth, and the improvement of quality of life.
Economic development can also be described as a process
that influences growth and restructuring of an economy
to enhance the economic well being of a community.
economic development:
... efforts to increase employment
opportunities by getting new businesses to relocate in
a community or
existing businesses to expand. Differs from job development
in the sense that it seeks to in-crease the pool of available
work rather than soliciting employers to post openings
for jobs that already exist.
economic development:
... on the international
level has been defined as a (growth process) ... whereby countries
raise incomes per capita and become industrialized ...
economic development:
... (is a) process of raising the
level of prosperity and material living in a society
through
increasing the productivity and efficiency of its economy.
In less industrialized regions, this process is believed
to be achieved by an increase in industrial production
and a relative decline in the importance of agricultural
production.
economic development:
... (is) actions taken to
improve the ability of people to more productively
use
capital and natural and human resources in the
production of goods and servicesmore.
economic development:
... (is) the process of promoting, initiating,
supporting, and/or facilitating the creation of wealth
and employment opportunities.
economic development:
... (is) a rise in real income
per person; usually associated with new technology
that
increases
productivity or resources. This definition
of economic development is one of several provided
in the listed source and also
in a glossary available through the .network library.
economic development:
... (is) the stabilization, retention
or expansion of the economic base and quality employment opportunities.
economic development:
... ( is increasing the
flow) of capital through
the community and
reducing its leakage.
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http://www.eda.gov/Research/EcoDev.xml#Defining was where the original USEDA definition
of economic development was found. At last check the URL
address string produced a file-not-found message.
Apparently the replacement definition quotes Harvard Professor Michael E. Porter
who in The Competitive Advantage of Nations, 1990, stated that
(economic development is a) ... long-term process of building a number of
interdependent microeconomic capabilities and incentives to support more
advanced forms of competition ... EDA
source
Search the Web for ... Competitive Advantage of Nations and other keywords.
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Elledge points out in an
online resource paper that the
quote is his favorite definition of economic
development. He also indicates that a traditional
format for defining economic development would likely
include a reference to involvement
with ... some sort of a lending
program. Elledge's paper also mentions political
involvement by pointing out that ... politicians
support “it”see
comments under the last acknowledgement on this page.
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URL
address string www.johnwiley.com.au/highered/eco2e/macro/lect-res/glossary.html
is no longer functional; however, two
words in the quote, industrialization and countries,
are worth dwelling on and offering related links. For example, industrialization
is a prompt for pointing
out that Industrial
development is a term used in many locations around
the world and is often interchangeable with economic
development. Also, it may be worthwhile to point out that The
Network is
as much a global industrial development directory as it is
an economic
development directory. The first thing you see when you enter
the Area Development section of Economic
Development.net is a
list of countries.
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Blane Canada is a consultancy. It is listed among
other economic development marketing consultants in the Global
Registry of Contacts. The quote is from an issue of the consultancy's
newsletter (online
archive), completed with the following: Other definitions
are only pretenders to the crown. So, what have you done for your community
today?
The Economic Development Marketing Letter archive also has a suggestion by Nancy
Blane that the following statement be paraphrased to provide
a definition of economic development.: We don't make a lot of the products
you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy ... better!quoted
advertising message from BASF Corporation. Blane states that ... in
economic development, this (the BASF message) is envisioned through attraction, retention, expansion and investment. Taking
our cue from Blane, The
Network might offer the following definition:
Economic
development practitioners don't create the communities
in which people are able to live, work, and share things in common. They
make communities economically viable and sustainable by effecting opportunities
for entrepreneurship and job
creation, by helping to increase
local wealth and
distribute imported capital.
In other words, practitioners make the
processes
of enterprise
and economic development work better in the places they
represent.
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The quote is the definition
of economic development as an element of a planning process based
on the Guide
to Community Planning in Wisconsin by Brian W. Ohm.
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Additional definitions of economic development available in the resource
paper, Material
Efficiency and the work of the Wuppertal Institute, by Holger Wallbaum:
(1) Economic development is the ... qualitative improvement
of the economic subsystem of society that is concerned with the production,
consumption and distribution of goods and services to meet human needs;
(2) ... process of improving the quality of human life through increasing per
capita income, reducing poverty, and enhancing individual economic opportunities.
It is also sometimes defined to include better education, improved health
and nutrition, conservation of natural resources, a cleaner environment,
and a richer cultural life; and, (3) ... Organized
efforts to attract new business into an area or to encourage existing business
to expand.
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Glossary: http://www.indiana.edu/~ipe/glossry.html
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Glossary: www.whitehall.k12.mi.us/curriculum/socialstudies/glossaryofterms.htm.
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Quote is from a glossary which defines job development as well as economic
development: www.cdr.state.tx.us/Researchers/Automated/FieldGuide/glossary.html
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Glossary E-page: www.npgoodpractice.org/Glossary/Default.aspx?index=E
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Acknowledgement: Don
Iannone of Cleveland, Ohio at one time published several online answers
to the question of how to define economic development. There are (1),
(2), (3) definitions on this page also
found
in his blog. Iannone interviewed an economic
development marketing guru and published the observation
that the practice of economic development, at its best, requires
political savviness. Perhaps there ought to be more information available
about politics and economic development for sophomoric practitioners.
If interested, see the list
of keyword search suggestions in the .network library.
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This page is the second in a series about economic development. It follows
the one that has definitions of terms
that begin with the word economic.
This page provides a comprehensive definition of economic development based
on a selection of views on the subject. Operative
words (keywords)
have been selected from the
definitions above and organized
into a
library reference for additional information.
You are welcomed to
critique or comment on what you find here or in the
library and, if you
know of a definition that would add more, to submit it. CONTACT
US. Also,
we've fielded various questions about economic development. For example,
see our answer to
the one about where the term came from. Our answer ties
it to industrial
development. The next page in this series is about
industrial development.
go back
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