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Utilizing the Kaufman (1959) and Sutton-Koloja (1960a, 1960b) conceptualization of community, empirical techniques are developed to identify community boundaries. These techniques are unique because they allow simultaneous consideration of boundary and interaction aggregation problems. A sociological conceptualization of community is coordinated with layman respondent's perceptions so empirical data, faithful to both perspectives, may be gathered from community residents. Community boundaries are identified from conditional probability matrices applied to residents identified as business, education, and government leaders in ten rural areas of Illinois. Township boundaries regularly coincide with community boundaries. Techniques developed here appear widely applicable to identifying community and other boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper propose an export base model of local employment growth where one of the "export" sectors is cash transfer payments to individuals. The basic sector considered are: agriculture, manufacturing, inter-governmental transfers, and cash transfer to individuals. The model is tested with a sample of U.S. counties using data from secondary sources. Cash transfers are found to have strong positive effects on local nonbasic employment growth. Manufacturing and agriculture were also found to have significant effects. Also in the model are ecological qualities such as industrial diversity and urbanization of the local community. The findings and hypothesis are discussed in relation to the "population turnaround" of nonmetropolitan communities, the growth of social welfare payments, the economic significance of cash transfers to local communities, and the Keynesian macro approach to economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using concepts developed to explain the emergence of public welfare in nation-states, this paper proposes a model for explaining welfare effort in communities. This strategy is premised on the assumption that social systems tend to exhibit similar processes whether they are small communities or entire nations. The model assigns prime importance to the influence of economic development as a cause of welfare effort. This relationship is intervened by considerations of urbanization, political environment, the level of government organization, and the presence of a dependent population. The model is tested with a sample of U.S. counties with data from secondary sources by factor and regression analysis. With few exceptions, the model is supported by the data. The implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]