In this virtual edition of the American Journal of Agricultural Economics we highlight the long and rich tradition on research and policy discussions related to rural community development in AJAE. This was an undertaking of the Community and Regional Economics Network (CRENET) within the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. In addition to a celebration of this long and rich tradition we had three objectives in organizing this virtual issue. First, we wanted to highlight some of the classic pieces in rural development that remain relevant today. Reviewing these older classics helps us to better understand not only the foundations of our work today but also highlights has our thinking has evolved over time. Second, we aimed to emphasize the importance of direct policy relevance to the work. While some of the pieces included here could be considered “theoretical” most of the work attempts to inform policy discussions at the federal, state and local levels. Third, over time the complexity of rural community development becomes clearer. Notions that a healthy farm economy lead to a healthy rural economy gave way to a better understanding of the heterogeneity of rural areas. Given this heterogeneity some questioned what role federal policy could or should play and if policy be aimed at nurturing grassroots efforts. As the complexity of rural community development became clearer the nature of the work equally evolved over time.
Steven C. Deller
Editor
See all articles part of this issue HERE
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