The regional economic and labor market impact of large-scale, rural, public works construction: A case study of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System

This dissertation discusses the various methods by which the economic and employment generation effects of rural, public works construction can be ascertained; presents a review of the literature regarding such generation effects; and analyzes through a case-study approach the construction-era and post-construction economic and employment impacts of the largest single, completed project ever built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which was constructed in the period 1955-1971 in rural areas of central Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma.