| Popis: |
Two questions have predominated policy discussions about the allocation of federal aid to rural local governments during the last two decades whether rural areas were getting their "fair share" and whether the aid was appropriately targeted to deserving communities. An analysis of data for 1972-1983 shows that although the position of rural governments apparently improved during the 1970s, the gains were principaUy due to sharply inreased loans to rural areas, while urban areas benefited from increases in grants-in-aid. Conversely, the aid reductions of the early 1980s, by cutting into loans, which are less valuable than grants, appear to have hurt rural areas less than urban areas. A modest amount of income-targeting in federal development funds was evident in the early 1970s, but it deteriorated during the following decade. By 1983 counties with higher incomes and more satisfactory levels of public service received higher levels of aid than places that might have been consideed more needy. While the reasons for the generally diminished targeting are not clear, several possibilities, including the increasing importance of loans as a federal aid mechanism, are considered. |
