Introduction
The current essay is dealing with Pitt County location incentives through the prism of applying export base theories. In the first place, the character and the scope of incentives for manufacturing and other businesses provided by Pitt County will be analyzed. This will help us to better understand administrative and economic reasons for these policies. Secondly, the outline of export-based theory will be provided and then it will be applied to Pitt County policies. It would be important to assess whether this particular theory is self-sufficient and whether it has heuristic value for understanding the reasons and trends of urban and regional economics and politics. Finally, based on available data and analysis an answer will be found to an important issue on short and long-term relevance of this policy and our own conclusions.
Main body
First of all, it is evident that Pitt county formed its autonomous approach to economic and investment development in the region. Its position and orientation may be described as pragmatic and development-oriented. It works as an investor who seeks to create better conditions for businesses to generate more profits.
For instance, as the available data suggests it provides capital assistance for companies in different industries in terms of expanding municipal water supply, sewer systems, transport, equipment, and infrastructure. In fact, it stimulates business investment through creating ‘expenditure heaven’ for manufactures and stabilizing negative conditions of taxes rise: ‘Depending upon the availability of funds, the County may be expected to provide assistance up to an amount equal to the increase in ad valorem taxes for a period of five years resulting from new investments in land, building, and equipment (Pitt County Location Incentives, 2008). There is no denying the importance of the fact that such kinds of initiatives are associated with export-oriented strategies.
The following incentives that Pitt County authorities provide are participating in costs of railroad extensions which are extremely important for local capital investments and development. The local Department of Transportation also develops efficient policies aimed at creating new jobs and costs and constructing new access roads to developing manufacturing sites. Another orientation of regional authorities’ efforts and initiatives is employee training, testing, and screening. In frames of this initiative, the regional employment security office helps employers by selecting employees, organizing testing and screening. In this way, business’s operational costs are reduced and the state authorities once and again prove the problematical character of the neoclassical economy.
There exist several programs in the format of public-private partnership that organizers and prepares people for entering into the labor market. This organizational system provides commercial firms and businesses with crucial information on available labor in the region.
Among other things, various training and career opportunities are realized and effectively implemented which shows that state organs carefully realize their social goals and responsibilities to the civil society.
Many firms in many industries significantly benefited from such directions of Pitt County’s activities as pre-employment assistance, quality training, and instruction to business, providing necessary equipment and facilities including the newest electronic learning and testing systems which are utilized by businesses for free to assess the skills of potential candidatures. In the financing segment, Pitt County provides various Industrial Revenue Bonds under realizing of some industrial and development projects in the area, offers SBA 501 loans directed at small businesses seeking to develop infrastructure and building projects but lacking enough capacities for guaranteeing the efficacy of the project.
Besides this, it is notable that Pitt County offers various investment and tax credits which are aimed at lessening costs burdens and stimulating extensive regional investment and development.
From the abovementioned information, it is evident that the state is motivated to offer this information since it is interested in participating in the business and investment process which is booming in this region. State plays the function of the important business actor in the economic game as it offers tax and investment credits, participates in infrastructure projects, and cooperates with businesses. Pitt Country authority’s behavior can also be explained in terms of an export base theory which states that regional authorities play a crucial role in creating conditions for exporting capital to become dominant and stimulating profitable investment projects in the region. Let’s analyze this theory in depth (Noll, 1999).
The central premise of export base theory as it is outlined in the works of Andrews, North, and Tiebout is based on the claim that regional development depends on export (Andrews, 1954; North, 1955). In this way, total economic activity is subdivided into two main categories – basic and nonbasic activity. The basic sector denotes the trade and export segment while nonbasic includes local production and consumption. As the available information on the Pitt County community suggests, authorities there pay more attention to providing incentives for the industries which are oriented at the external development, which is creating value outside the regional economy but stimulating its internal development. Hence, it may be said that local authorities implement export base theories.
In its turn, this claim is supported by the employment strategy that Pitt County pursues. Such important representatives of export base theory such as Tiebout and Ebai claim that regional development is based on the success of the export-driven sector which brings profits into the economy and thereby stimulates internal consumption and production (Tiebout, 1956; Ebai, 1995).
Therefore, the employment priorities rest within the interests of the export-oriented sector, and other ‘internal’ employment sectors should be regarded as provisional and adaptive. Pitt County community as available information suggests plays an active part in stimulating good employment conditions for businesses operating in the export sphere as it provides basic training, testing, and screening facilities to businesses and various programs oriented at decreasing business costs at the same time guaranteeing their provision with the qualified and perspective labor force.
One of the basic assumptions of an export base theory is that regional economic development can be accelerated by increasing monetary inflow into the economy stimulating investment potential. There is no denying the importance of the fact that Pitt County goes in line with these policies by offering favorable tax and investment credits for businesses that are oriented toward developing local infrastructure and export capacities. For instance, an important incentive – Credit for investing in business property is equal to approximately 5% of the excess value above 1,000,000 of the capitalized personal property which is created for Pitt County by new expanding firms.
Export-based theory, of course, had just descriptive character, if it could not be quantified and operationalized. Export base theory can be used for the assessment of the export impact on regional income, growth, and employment. These impacts in their turn are developed as multipliers.
After we outlined the main contours of export base theory and analyzed the character of Pitt County’s economic and social policies in its terms, it is important to define whether it is relevant in the short and long run. Many economists such as Tiebout and North considered these questions among the most important ones. Traditionally, there existed contradiction between North who claimed that the theory is best applicable to characterizing long-term trends, and Tiebout who stated that it is more effective from a short-term perspective.
Tiebout also claimed that internal economy and income source are no less important in determining the level of growth than exports. Finally, Tiebout created an export base multiplier to assess income in a short and long-term perspective. In my view, Tiebout’s is more productive for understanding the dynamics of export accumulation. It assumes temporal variation of mutual economic impacts and trends. In the short-run period, the correlation between exports and internal regional development is not evident and both develop in accordance with their own logic. With the development of the local investment, sector stimulated by enhancing export conditions in the long run the trend of strengthening correlation between exports and regional development is developing. With the rise of consumption and investment, positive changes are evident for the regional economy.
Conclusion
Therefore, the conclusion can be made that the net multiplier effect of the export base is stronger in the long-run perspective. To sum it up, we conducted a careful study of Pitt County policies and assessed their efficacy in terms of an export base theory. We found out that the impact of export-led policies in the region will be more tangible if measured in the long-run perspectives.
References
Andrews, Richard B. The Problem of Base Measurement. Land Economics 30:52-60, 1954.
Ebai, George E. Determining Export Base and Export Base Multipliers in Rural Nevada Counties. MS thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, 1995.
Noll R. G., Zimbalist A. eds. Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums, Brookings Institution Press, 1997.
Noll, Roger G. The Economics and Politics of the Slowdown in Regulatory Reform. Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1999.
North, Douglass C., 1955. Location Theory and Regional Economic Growth. Journal of Political Economy 63:243-58.
Pitt County Location Incentives. Assistance Programs Available In Pitt County For New And Expanding Manufacturing Facilities. Web.
Tiebout, Charles M. Exports and Regional Economic Growth. Journal of Political Economy 64(1956):160-164.