Economic Resilience
Exploring why some regions bounce back from economic shocks and others do not.
Key Publications
Strengthening American Manufacturing: A New Federal Approach
By Susan Helper and Howard Wial (Brookings Institution, September 2010).Read more
Urban and Regional Policy and Its Effects, Volume 3
By Nancy Pindus, Howard Wial, and Harold Wolman, editors (Brookings Institution Press, 2010).Read more
The Consequences of Manufacturing Decline in America's Industrial Metropolitan Areas: Putting Conventional Wisdom to the Test
By Alec Friedhoff, Howard Wial, and Hal Wolman (Brookings Institution, 2010)Read more
Corporate Citizenship and Urban Problem Solving: The Changing Civic Role of Business Leaders in American Cities,
By Harold Wolman et al. (Brookings Institution, 2006).Read more
Key Questions
- How can regional economies become more resilient?
- How do regions that face economic shocks recover?
Key Findings
- Regions focused on manufacturing and with a poorly educated population are both more likely to suffer from and rebound quickly from an economic downturn.
- Regions that have many export industries are more resilient to employment downturns.
- The greater the income gaps between rich and poor, the more likely the region is to lose jobs during economic shocks and the longer it will take to recover. Yet, it is also more resilient to downturns in gross metropolitan product.
- Responding with new policies after a regional downturn is less effective than insulating a region against downturns.