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Abstract
Understanding what constitutes success in business retention and expansion (BRE) is a vital first step in determining the extent to which economic development organizations (EDOs) emphasize and use performance measurement for this particular strategy. The limited literature available on the topic suggests that the emphasis EDOs place on performance measurement in BRE will vary, and is likely a function of certain organizational and program characteristics. As such, the article seeks to address three inter-related research questions: (1) How do EDOs define success in BRE based on the specific metrics they collect? (2) What factors explain the variation in emphasis that EDOs place on BRE metrics? and (3) What success factors are evident in the implementation of BRE programs that may increase the chances of achieving desired results? The analysis uses data from a national survey of EDOs and short case studies of five BRE programs in examining the research questions.
Notes
1. Statistical inference and significance testing assume a random sample or, at the least, a probability sampling design. However, it has become commonplace for researchers to use inferential statistical analysis with non-random/non-probability samples and report the findings in published work. This is especially true in instances where it is reasonable to think that a particular sample is representative of the larger population of interest. While the precise makeup of the population of EDOs in the US is unknown, the distribution of population sizes and community types among the IEDC survey respondents provides a measure of confidence in the representativeness of the sample, despite the lack of random selection or a probability sampling design. Still, some caution is in order when interpreting the statistical results and generalizing them to the larger population of EDOs.