Research & Publications -> On-going Research -> Tapestry of Conflicts: A Political Economy of Kentucky's Economic Development Policy

Tapestry of Conflicts: A Political Economy of Kentucky's Economic Development Policy

Timothy Collins

Project Abstract

This book is analyzes changes in Kentucky's economic-development policies from the 1950s to the 1990s as nine governors (A.B. "Happy" Chandler to Wallace Wilkinson) ostensibly attempted to improve living conditions in the state by attracting new businesses. Using their words, legislative and court records, state publications, and newspaper accounts, I explain some of the complexities of the gradual evolution of state-level economic development policy that eventually resulted in the recruitment of Toyota as a major employer in 1985.

Kentucky's geographic position as a border state, perched between the North and the South, makes it a good place to study the evolution of state-level education and economic-development policies in the post World War II years. The Commonwealth's government tried to deal with the diverse economy, topography, and social conditions, including a relatively large industrial city (Louisville), Midwestern-style agriculture, two different coal fields (east and west), burgeoning services and high technology, urban and rural poverty, and mountainous terrain that defied development prescriptions.

A number of themes emerge from the analysis, including state efforts to deal with uneven economic development; protection of existing natural-resources-based industries in the face of new capital, chiefly from outside the state; suggestions of changing social-class relationships; the need to provide new jobs to create unity in the face of problems within the state and national and global competition; a tightening connection between economic development policy and improved education; and the emergence of neoconservative thinking at the state level.

After a brief introductory chapter that introduces the broad themes, the second chapter offers a historic backdrop for conditions in Kentucky, emphasizing the Depression and World War II years, when the Commonwealth began to take a more activist role in attracting new capital. Chapters 3 to 11 cover the efforts of each governor to build on existing economic development policies. Chapter 12 contains an analysis of some of Kentucky's long-term socioeconomic trends in order to support the analysis of themes.

Deliverables from Project

The project will generate a book manuscript and presentations at professional meetings.