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A recent trend in American economic life has been the location of industrial complexes in traditionally rural areas. When this occurs, there are often accompanying rapid and sometimes traumatic changes in the rural community. These changes, in part, result from investment of new and massive amounts of capital, new employment opportunities, in-migration of new workers, and demands for new and more services. New values, attitudes, and patterns of behavior are introduced, and the established patterns of community life are disrupted. The basic trends of development in the social system of an experimental and control area are being studied in terms of the Jones-Laughlin Steel Corporation (J&L), which in 1965 began the development of a major production complex in the Hennepin area of Putnam County, Illinois. The impact of the J&L installation is being explored by an interdisciplinary team of social scientists at the University of Illinois. The study project, known as the Rural Industrial Development Project, will investigate the impact of the installation in adjacent counties as well. The document includes an explanation of the theoretical framework of the study and 59 tables. (EJ)

An Hypothesis suggesting an inverse association between age and distance traveled to work was tested by correlation analysis. The results indicated no support for the expected linear relationship between age and distance commuted. This finding runs counter to the well-documented inverse relationship between age and other dimensions of geographic mobility. Several possible reasons for the failure of age to emerge as a predictor of distance traveled to work are suggested and briefly discussed. (Author)

The industrial development of rural areas within a technologically and industrially advanced nation consists essentially of a redistribution of economic activity. Resultant changes in occupational structure may be assessed through study of five major areas: market participation, sectoral relocation, work specialization, occupational upgrading, and bureaucratization. Introduction of a large-scale production facility to a rural area was studied (along with a control group) for its impact on the area work force. Its effects were marginal in terms of market participation and work specialization but more pronounced in regard to sectoral relocation and occupational upgrading (especially in white-collar occupations). There is some support for the proposition that rural development increases work bureaucratization. The apparent lack of major impact of industrialization may be due to the brevity of the research period (1966 to 1971), the effects being too localized to measure with available data, or, most likely, the dilution of effects through wide dispersal within the region. (MS)

Information on the commuting patterns of the employees of a recently constructed manufacturing facility in north central Illinois is presented in this report. The subjects included 720 hourly workers and 300 salaried employees of a cold rolling mill. Data were obtained from the 1972 personnel records of the plant and were available for 98% of the employees. Air and road miles between residence and plant site were calculated. Major findings were that there is considerable variation in commuting distance among the employees and that the radius of the commuter field is very wide. It was noted that the income generated by the plant is dispersed over a wide area, which is desirable for the region but may pose problems for the host community. (PS)

The document has 3 goals (1) to examine the distribution of economic benefits of industrial development as reflected by the concept of competition in human ecology; (2) to provide an empirical test of the ecological model, and (3) to relate the findings to public policy. Two Illinois study areas were identified. First, as an experimental region, Putnam County and bordering sections of the 3 contiguous counties were selected. Second, a comparable region across the state--Iroquois County--was selected as a control region. Both regions: (1) are about equidistant from Chicago, (2) had similar highway and railway systems in 1966, and (3) were rural agricultural counties similar in demographic composition. In 1966, 1,171 household heads were interviewed in the experimental region, and 411 in the control region. Five years later, after the industrial plant had beenin operation, 1,166 persons in the experimental region were interviewed and 399 in the control region. Findings are presented in 5 tables and are summarized--e.g., Table 1 presents gross and net effects on income of each category of competitive capacity. (FF)

The impact of a large manufacturing plant on a small village in "middle America" was explored in this paper. Research was conducted in Illinois using Putnam County as an "experimental" region and Iroquois County as a "control." In the spring of 1966, the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation began construction of a major production complex at the village of Hennepin in Putnam County. Operation at the "Hennepin Works" began in December 1967. In June 1966, 1,128 household heads in Putnam and 411 heads in Iroquois County were interviewed. In the summer of 1971, 1,029 heads in Putnam County and 377 in Iroquois County were interviewed. Individuals' total yearly income measured economic status. The income of the samples from each region were dichotomized on the basis of age and sex. Findings provided strong empirical support for the hypothesis that the elderly residents and female heads of households receive little direct economic benefit from new industry. (NQ)

Parental heads of households and high school students in 2 rural Illinois counties were studied to determine their respective attitudes toward several minority groups using the Bogardus Social Distance Scale as the primary attitudinal measure. A parental sample of 1096 households and a sample of 738 students were independently drawn. The two samples provided 66 instances of overlap response from heads of households and high school students from the same family. It was hypothesized that a youth subculture or "contra-culture" serves as a more important socializing agent in forming attitudes of students toward minority groups than does parental attitude and influence. Chi-square and correlational techniques were utilized in analyzing the obtained data. Results indicated that there was little evidence of "contra-culture" influence and that student attitudes toward minority groups were in general the same as those held by the adults. It was concluded that strong family influence on children's attitudes toward minority groups still existed in these 2 rural areas. Related information is contained in ED 024 514. (EV)