Clayton Adamson, a graduate student in the Sociology department, recently published a paper about economic development and stratification in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society. Check out the paper here: http://academic.oup.com/cjres/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cjres/rsag031/8776640
Abstract: Economic development theory and practice in the United States implicitly assume that because economic decline is linked to worsened deprivation, the inverse must hold: that growth generates socioeconomic prosperity. While regional economic decline and stagnation correlate with decreasing real income among lower- and middle-income families, income gains from growth accrue primarily to higher-income families. Further, economic and income change relationships are most pronounced in micropolitan and smaller metropolitan regions, questioning the universal applicability of “one-size-fits-all” development strategies. These findings challenge the dominant growth paradigm, emphasising the importance of prioritising equitable resource distribution and place-sensitive strategies in economic development.