A Cautionary Tale from Nevada’s Desert-People before Company: A Case Study on Economic Development Approaches in Nevada

摘要

This project utilized a mixed methods research design consisting of a case study of Nevada to explain the state's reliance on company-based government incentives to attract new businesses to the state. Additionally, the project applied a comparative analysis of Brazil's and Tennessee's use of company-based government incentives, and a more detailed comparative analysis of Virginia's people-based government incentive approach to economic development incentives to explore policy alternatives available to decision makers. This project used the historical institutionalism approach to show how policymakers have certain institutionally dominated predispositions impacting policy outcomes leading to a path dependency where rational choice theory's credit seeking behavior further reinforces the desire to provide company-based incentives over people-based incentives. Additionally, this project discussed how the creative class theory provides an alternative approach to help channel policy preferences toward people-based incentives for policymakers prone to rent seeking corporations pursuing company-based incentives. The concept and definition of workplace is changing. The connectedness of global markets and supply chains combined with advanced technology are disconnecting companies from specific geographic locations giving them an increasing ability to more freely expand or relocate. Business closures, realignments, and work from home protocols associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic have further transformed, if not destroyed, the notion of workplace and corporate commitment to local. The comparative analysis of this project informs policymakers facing this new reality by evaluating whether prospective companies prefer government investments in company-based economic development or investments in people-based economic development.This project used a case study of Tesla's September 2014 decision to build its first Gigafactory for manufacturing batteries in Sparks, Nevada. The project also compared Amazon's September 2017 decision to build its HQ2 corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. More specifically, the project highlighted the lessons Nevada and other state's beginning to establish and implement economic development tools, designed to attract new enterprise to their state, can learn from states more experienced and successful in economic development endeavors. The primary units of analysis for this project were the metro areas of Reno, Nevada; Las Vegas, Nevada; Washington, D.C. Metro Region; and the surrounding areas impacted by the project, and the state. The case study of Nevada offered a unique perspective and contribution to existing literature in urban affairs and public policy, if not a laboratory for study, as a state with a rich tradition of reliance on stable historic rent seeking enterprises suddenly pivoted and realigned state law and institutions to diversifying its economy following the Great Recession. As one of the least diverse states in the Nation, Nevada provides a blank canvas to analyze the evolution of government institutions, public policy, and the effectiveness of incentives designed to attract new diversification. The comparative analysis of Amazon in Virginia provided strong comparative value to understanding policy evolution and the value businesses place on people or company-based economic incentives. Additionally, the Amazon analysis looked at the company's bifurcated decision to locate in Virginia and New York and how those states used company- and people-based approaches to attract their part of the opportunity. Following a more traditional incrementalism approach where inherently stable institutions of policy subsystems develop over time, Virginia made significant historical investments in people and utilized smaller company-based incentives to attractbusiness.This project utilized content analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews, and document analysis of legislative records. This stu