Using economic base analysis to solve development planning problems: A best practice approach

Economic base analysis is typically sold as a research tool on the promise that it can produce a multiplier. But it can do much more if the practitioner thinks to ask or if the applied geographer bothers to offer. This article identifies six economic development problems commonly faced by development practitioners and illustrates how solutions can be drawn from economic base studies. Two studies are featured; one is a regional economic base study that looks at both a large rural region and at five individual communities within the region. The other is a study of a single community that was initially completed in 1974 and replicated three times between 1974 and 1995. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.