Mississippi Business Environment Before and After Katrina: Challenges and Opportunities

Valid, reliable, and, most importantly, timely information is the most critical aspect for the design and implementation of successful emergency management strategies. This goal, however, is rarely achieved during the aftermath of a disaster. In this paper, we showcase how we used administrative records to assist Mississippi in evaluating the overall impact of Katrina on the state’s economy. Specifically, we assisted the state in developing a methodology to generate valid, reliable, and timely information on (1) the business environment and labor market and (2) rehiring and hiring practices. This information was used by the state to design recovery strategies and justify the necessary funds from federal agencies to assist local communities in their economic recovery. The experience of Mississippi clearly shows that valid, reliable, and timely information is critical for developing effective policy

Black-white, black-nonblack, and white-nonwhite residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, 1990-2010

The goal of this study is to examine racial residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The study uses 1990-2010 decennial census data to answer a broad theoretical question: is the historical black-white color line being replaced by a black-nonblack or white-nonwhite color line? The results show that black-white segregation is higher than black-nonblack and white-nonwhite segregation in metropolitan areas, nonmetropolitan areas, and the United States as a whole. A multivariate analysis reveals that population size tends to be associated with higher segregation in metropolitan areas and lower segregation in nonmetropolitan areas. As a control variable, diversity seems to play an important role in segregation by U.S. region. The study concludes that further research is needed to examine how the color line might change, especially in nonmetropolitan areas, which experienced rapid minority population growth during the 2000s