By Caleb Taylor ACRE Legislative Research Associate Nathan Smith recently testified against legislation expanding tax credits for some businesses in Arkansas. Smith said the bill would be “basically just a giveaway of millions of dollars a year to shareholders of these companies.” Senate Bill 543 sponsored by State Sen. David Wallace and State Rep. Joe […]
Do Economic Development Incentives Work?
By Caleb Taylor How effective are Arkansas’s economic development incentives? Not very, according to ACRE Research Fellow Erica Smith in an op-ed published on May 11 in Arkansas Business entitled “Arkansas’ Ineffective Incentives.” Smith writes about the economic literature on economic development incentive programs such as Arkansas’s Quick Action Closing Fund (QACF) and concludes that […]
ACRE Student Spotlight: Erica Smith
By Caleb Taylor Is there a connection between getting re-elected and which counties get economic development incentives? A new working paper entitled “Do Politicians Use Targeted Economic Incentives for Political Gains? Evidence from Arkansas Gubernatorial Elections” co-authored by ACRE Undergraduate Research Fellow Erica Smith, ACRE Affiliated Researcher and UCA Lecturer I of Economics Jacob Bundrick, […]
ACRE Analyst Quoted in Article About Incentives and Land-Based Salmon Farms
By Aaron Newell Policy makers trying to create a better environment for businesses have many different options – but some are better than others. ACRE Policy Analyst Jacob Bundrick recently discussed some of these options with John Evans and Rachel Sapin of IntraFish.com. In an article published on March 12th, “Could incentives power more US […]
What Do Governments Sacrifice to Give Businesses Subsidies?
By Caleb Taylor What are the trade-offs states make when offering economic development incentives to private businesses? Prof. Nathan Jensen discussed this and more on Tuesday, November 13th in the UCA College of Business auditorium to a crowd of over 70 attendees. Jensen is a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of […]
The Cost of Arkansas’s QACF
By Jacob Bundrick Since its creation in 2007, state officials have allocated more than $185.7 million to the Quick Action Closing Fund (QACF). The program, which allows the state to provide discretionary cash grants to select companies, is intended to attract and retain businesses in Arkansas. But have these millions actually increased economic activity? Research […]