Measuring the employment effects of the rural renewal tax scheme

Abstract

) Measuring the employment effects of the Rural Renewal Tax Scheme, Regional Studies 40, 359-374. The paper presents evidence on the effectiveness of the Rural Renewal Tax Scheme introduced by the Irish Government in 1998. The rationale for the scheme puts the emphasis on new economic activity and economic growth in the designated area. Thus, it is legitimate to look for positive employment impacts as a primary outcome of the tax scheme. The empirical results suggest that the tax scheme has had positive effects on the numbers of people unemployed in the tax area. However, using available estimates of the costs of the scheme, these employment gains are not significant enough for the scheme to pass an efficiency test. En este ensayo demostramos la eficacia del régimen fiscal para la renovación rural que el Gobierno irlandés introdujo en 1998. El razonamiento de este régimen es que hace hincapié en la nueva actividad económica y el crecimiento económico en el área designada. Por ello es legítimo investigar como resultado principal si gracias al régimen fiscal hubo un impacto positivo en el empleo. Los resultados empíricos indican que el régimen fiscal tuvo efectos positivos en el número de personas en paro en la zona fiscal. Sin embargo, según los cálculos disponibles de los costes de este régimen, este aumento de empleo no es lo suficientemente importante como para aprobar su eficacia.Regímenes fiscales en zonas rurales Efectos en el empleo Modelos de efectos fijos Análisis de costes y beneficios JEL classifications: C21, R11, R58

‘If You Build It, They Will Come’: Governing property-led rural regeneration in Ireland

“…Between 1996 and 2006 male unemployment fell from 12% to 7.4% of the population in its target area, however this is slightly below the equivalent trends in the control RRS area (11.1% to 5.2%) and the country as a whole (14.5% to 7.7%). Keane and Garvey's (2006) analysis of social security claimant trends within the RRS area further confirms this analysis -they report that mean unemployment inside the Scheme area fell from 990 to 770 persons during the lifetime of the programme, whereas mean unemployment in the wider Border Midlands West region (in which the RRS target area is located) fell from 1418 to 1129 persons concurrently. Controlling for other possible influences, their regression analysis indicates that the RRS resulted in a reduction of approximately 13% in unemployment in the target area during its lifetime.…”

“…This exercise aims to contribute to the very underdeveloped literature on the role of property-led regeneration in rural development and on the RRS specifically. In contrast to the Irish Urban Renewal Scheme, the RRS has been the subject of very little research to date (Goodbody Economic Consultants, 2005;Keane and Garvey, 2006, being the only exceptions) and due to the scarcity of property led rural development measures elsewhere, the international literature on property-led regeneration strategies is overwhelmingly focussed on urban areas (for example, Adair et al, 2003;Healey et al, 1992). More broadly, the analysis focuses on the governance of the RRS in order to assess the authenticity of the shift which has been widely reported from government to governance in the rural development process both internationally (e.g.…”

Placing Housing in Rural Development: Exogenous, Endogenous and Neo‐Endogenous Approaches

“…Analysis by Gkartzios and Norris () exhibits some of the positive impacts of the RRS, such as the population recovery of the area, the rising levels of housing and homeownership in the area, as well as the impact of the scheme in employment (albeit, only in the short term), particularly in the construction sector. Keane and Garvey () too highlight the positive effects that the RRS had on employment in the rural area. Such positive impacts are not unknown in the exogenous development model, particularly in creating jobs in peripheral regions (Lowe et al .…”

Rising Second Home Numbers in Rural Ireland: Distribution, Drivers and Implications

“…The output of vacant and second homes in Courttown and Drumshanbo was driven by area-based tax incentives and our analysis casts severe doubt on the value of this type of rural development initiative which has driven housing over-supply rather than economic and population growth (Keane & Garvey, 2006). In Drumshanbo, locals were well aware of these limitations prior to the introduction of the RRS.…”