No abstract

Similar to human services professionals working with traumatized individuals, animal care workers also report experiences of secondary trauma. For animal care workers, the literature examines secondary trauma effects through concepts such as compassion fatigue, burnout, moral stress, and perpetration-induced traumatic stress. Research suggests that veterinarians and veterinary technicians/assistants and staff suffer from compassion fatigue and burnout. The current article reports results from a survey of 2,878 animal care workers in the United States, where potential risk and protective factors for compassion fatigue were examined using multiple regression analysis. There was a high level of compassion fatigue for both veterinarians and nonveterinary staff. The strongest risk factors for compassion fatigue were degree of exposure to cruelty and neglect cases and degree of stress from performing euthanasia. Best practices for healthy management of compassion fatigue in animal care workers are discussed, and organizational practices that help mitigate it are recommended.

Despite widespread adoption of creative class economic development strategies, one of its basic tenets—the connection between community tolerance (running through talented individuals and high-tech employment) and economic health and growth—has not been sufficiently tested. This analysis of 40 midsized Canadian urban areas finds a connection between diversity and gay and creative populations and economic health. Neither high-tech employment nor economic growth, however, was found to be linked to the other measures. Although there is some evidence that amenity- and creative class-based economic development strategies can be effective, they do not appear to be sufficient in themselves. Other local policies (e.g., basic marketing to tourists, infrastructure improvements, and traditional business attraction and retention strategies) combined with a measure of “place luck” seem to be important ingredients as well.

This research focuses on the relative impact of place luck and economic development policy in contributing to long-term economic growth. Using a unique national data set composed of surveys of public officials, three decades of census data, and a variety of other data covering climate, health, amenities, and so on, the following research questions are addressed: (a) Is economic prosperity better explained by local development policy or simple place luck? (b) Are particular economic development policies more strongly related to prosperity than others? (c) Are there other attributes of cities such as school quality, service quality, and safety, for example, that appear to enhance economic health?

Much attention in the urban economic development literature has focused on the relative merits of various economic development techniques and incentives. Less work has been done regarding why certain techniques are favored over others. In a study of 87 Michigan cities, this article explores the determinants of municipal tax abatement policy. Findings support the hypothesis that cities with growing economies tend to offer higher levels of tax abatements to promote further growth. Political factors such as governmental structure and competitiveness of elections are also important. The findings also suggest that commercial and industrial tax abatement policies are different, with commercial abatement levels being less easily explained

Although there is a large body of research attempting to identify the correlates of tax abatements, the question of why cities abate taxes at widely differing rates-or indeed, not at all despite state enabling legislation allowing them-has never been completely answered. Based on an examination of tax abatement data representing the history of abatements in Michigan, the article concludes that abatement patterns can be best understood when past abatement behaviors and the nature of the local employment base are included in the analysis. In the case of the number of abatements granted, it appears that both these forces-along with the general economy, governmental structural and process factors-are important in understanding abatement behavior. When the total value of abatements is considered, industrial mix appears most critical. Once municipalities start giving tax abatements they continue to do so. And, having concentrations of transportation-related industries and food/consumer products are traits that appear to lead to that initial push for abatements. Copyright 2006 by The Policy Studies Organization.

This article explores various aspects of the conventional wisdom regarding local economic development policy and policy making. Much widely accepted knowledge about why and how local governments approach economic development is based on a fairly narrow array of methodological approaches. And the conclusions often suffer from the limitations inherent in their respective methodologies. This may mean that what we think we know about local economic development might be reasonably accurate, but it does not quite reflect actual local dynamics. Yes, the conventional wisdom is true, but.... Using data from a large survey database of Canadian and U.S. cities along with findings from nine case studies in medium-size and smaller cities in both nations, the authors challenge a number of accepted truths and present an alternative civic culture framework for better understanding economic development policy making.

This paper examines trends in local economic development policies in Canadian and US cities over the past fifteen years. Using data drawn from surveys conducted at four points in time ‐ 1990, 1994, 2001, and 2005 ‐ the study provides a longitudinal assessment of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Findings indicate that Canadian and US cities have followed relatively similar trajectories in the extent to which they use particular economic development policies. Overall, the most common economic development policies in both nations have been and continue to be very similar: infrastructure investment generally, land development, basic promotion, and the use of special events to attract and retain businesses and residents and to promote the community. Thus, there is a visible pattern of the “least of differences” among cities in Michigan and Ontario in their development strategies and approaches. Sommaire: Le présent article examine les tendances qui se sont dégagées des politiques de développement économique local dans les villes canadiennes et américaines, au cours des quinze dernières années. À l'aide des données tirées de sondages réalisés à quatre moments différents, à savoir en 1990, 1994, 2001 et 2005, l‘étude fournit une évaluation longitudinale des changements par rapport à la stabilité dans l'approche globale à l’égard du développement économique. Les résultats indiquent que les villes canadiennes et américaines ont suivi des trajectoires relativement similaires dans la mesure où elles ont recours à des politiques de développement économique particulières. Dans l'ensemble, les politiques de développement économique les plus courantes dans ces deux pays ont été et continuent d‘être très similaires: l'investissement dans l'infrastructure en général, l'aménagement du territoire, la promotion de base, et le recours à des événements spéciaux pour attirer et retenir les entreprises et les résidents et pour promouvoir la communauté. Ainsi, il existe parmi certaines villes du Michigan et de l'Ontario un modèle visible de la “moindre des différences” dans leurs stratégies et leurs méthodes de développement.