Laura A Reese
Biographic Data
| ID | 82495 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura A Reese |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura A |
| FAMILY NAME | Reese |
| SIGNATURE | REESE L A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Michigan State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4217-970X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 69 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 237 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 68 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1988 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Disparities in Health Risks from Dog Bites
Dog bites are among the top causes of nonfatal injuries in the United States and have negative health repercussions ranging from death to post-traumatic stress. Risks from dog bites are an important issue and should be considered from a health disparity perspective. This research addresses three questions about risks from dog bites in urban areas. Using data from Detroit and Dallas, the findings suggest that blight and crime are the most signific…
How Local Contexts Matter for Local Immigrant Policies
There is a dearth of studies comparing the relative explanatory power of several major theories related to policy support for immigrants specifically in the context of local policies (as opposed to those at the state and national levels) and related to immigrant settlement and attraction (as opposed to welfare or legal benefits). By testing alternate explanations of local immigration policy, the analysis contributes to the development of theory r…
The Emotional Aspects of Dog Fostering
A common challenge for animal shelters/rescues is retaining volunteers that provide foster care for animals in their homes. This research investigated how animal shelters and rescues might better support volunteer dog fosters by examining the extent and role of attachment to the foster dog, the emotional challenges of fostering, and how organizations might alleviate these stressors. It employed data from a national survey of over 600 dog foster v…
Planning for Post-pandemic Downtowns of Mid-size Urban Areas
There is widespread consensus that the Covid pandemic has had significant negative effects on cities and city life. In an online survey, urban planners were asked to identify the attributes that contributed to the success of the downtowns of mid-size urban areas prior to the pandemic as well as the attributes that would facilitate their post-pandemic recovery. While some urban scholars expect that recovery will lead to a ‘new normal’, the planner…
Local immigrant support policies in the context of economic development
Immigration has been found to be an economic stimulus to cities increasing entrepreneurialism, driving up wages for all workers, reducing crime, and rejuvenating local neighborhoods and business areas. Given the array of potential benefits of immigrants, local governments may consider attracting and supporting immigration as an economic development tool. Using data from two national surveys conducted by the International City/County Management As…
Special Issue
Animals in the city
Humans have never been the only animals to live in cities and, as the world becomes ever more urbanized, the number and array of animal species in the urban setting are only increasing. This review essay provides a summary of extant research on human/animal interactions in cities. Four broad themes are discussed and outstanding research questions posed: (1) blurred boundaries and the intersectionality between human and nonhuman animals; (2) voice…
Progressive Economic Development Policies
It has become increasingly difficult to define progressive municipalities and progressive economic development. Conceptions of “local economic development” tied to neoliberal agendas are often narrow, focusing on efforts to offset perceived disadvantages of a location. Many traditional incentive policies result in a transfer of wealth from the public to the private sector. In this article, we consider whether the introduction of progressive econo…
Compassion Fatigue Among Animal Shelter Volunteers
Compassion fatigue (CF) is a prevalent issue in both human- and animal-care-related industries and is a concern due to its negative effect on mental health and retainment in the profession. Individuals working in animal shelters are particularly at risk for CF from exposure to euthanasia, abandonment, and cruelty to animals. The effect of CF on animal shelter employees has been well-documented; however, volunteers may also be at risk yet have rec…
Techs and the Cities
Large technology firms pose new challenges for local economic development in the 21st century. They are attractive targets for local economic developers because they have the potential of providing permanent, well-paying jobs. This article examines two mega-economic development deals. Amazon’s proposed second headquarters in Queens and Sidewalk Labs’ Quayside proposal for the Toronto waterfront pit large and prosperous Big Tech firms against loca…
Community attachment among residents living in public and commodity housing in China
Since China’s housing reform, increasing attention has been paid to public housing. While the quantity of public housing units is increasing, residents’ attachment to the community remains underexplored. This study evaluates the social dimension of public housing from the perspective of community attachment in Guangzhou, China. We use a mixed methods approach to examine what factors influence community attachment in both public and commodity hous…
Local government structure
Beloved Companion or Problem Animal
The term Pit bull is widely used. However, is it assigned a specific definition, or is it associated with overly inclusive and contradictory meanings? At the beginning of the 1900s, dogs identified as Pit bulls were known for their love of children. Media sensationalism has contributed to a shift in perceptions of Pit bulls from favorite companion animals to problem nonhuman animals. Thus, the process of constructing “problem animals” is examined…
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? An Integrated Model of Urban Policy Interdependence
This article explores local fiscal policy interdependence by proposing and testing a particular spatial modeling method to examine how different expenditure domains interact with neighboring jurisdictions. The analysis examines the extent of spatial interdependence by policy domain and explores the most robust way of determining neighbors for spatial analysis. It concludes that space matters in ways that need to be taken into account in the devel…
The Interpersonal Context of Human/Nonhuman Animal Violence
This research explores the relationship between the nature of animal cruelty perpetrated by owners versus cruelty against animals of domestic partners, family members, and neighbors. All animal cruelty incidents in the City of Detroit for which there is a police report between 2007 and 2015 were included in the analysis. Animal cruelty was categorized into eight types of abuse: dog fighting, shooting, neglect, poisoning, threat, stabbing, kicking…
City assessments and local policy preferences
This research focuses on the relative impact of demographics, political ideology, and civic culture in the formation of local policy preferences and community assessments. The driving premise is that, whereas demographic and ideological culture variables will be correlated with policy preferences, local civic cultural variables will have independent effects and will enhance the explanatory power of models of local policy preference. Based on anal…
Young Scholars Development Program
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Environmental correlates of urban dog bites
To be able to design effective urban public health programs to reduce the risk of dog bites and transmission of disease, the very complex factors that lead to bites need to be considered holistically. This research focuses specifically on the role of spatial and environmental factors as urban public health risks. In doing this, it addresses the following research questions:(1) What are the relative powers of traditional demographic versus environ…
It's safe to come, we've got lattes”
Everyone Loves a Dog Story
Public policy related to animal issues has not been well explored in the urban politics literature. We argue that concerns related to animal welfare are increasingly pressing in many cities yet sustained attention to them appears absent from the urban policy agenda. Using the multiple streams approach, this research examines animal welfare policy in the urban context and suggests why this policy area appears not to have gained a consistent place …
Sudden Versus Slow Death of Cities
This paper constitutes a follow-up to an argument made during the late fall of 2005 that posited that many of the approaches and responses to sudden natural disasters might be effectively applied to areas experiencing more chronic economic decay. Using census, budgetary, and political data, including an analysis of planning and development documents, the paper addresses the following research questions:•What were the economic and social trajector…
Reclaiming Brownfields
The environmental legacy of past industrial and agricultural development can simultaneously pose serious threats to human health and impede reuse of contaminated land. The urban landscape around the world is littered with sites contaminated with a variety of toxins produced by past use. Both public and private sector actors are often reluctant to make significant investments in properties that simultaneously pose significant potential human healt…
Minding the Gap
This research focuses on public service provision in the context of an important emerging urban policy issue: increasing numbers of roaming animals in distressed cities in the United States. The case of urban animal welfare policy illustrates a policy domain that relies heavily on informal networks of nonprofit organizations for service provision. How these networks function and the interaction between nonprofit and public entities says much abou…
The Dog Days of Detroit
This article details the extent and import of the stray and feral dog problem in the City of Detroit in the context of regime and network theories of governance. Using data drawn from a survey of animal welfare service providers, this article provides a description of the complex and essentially grass roots service provision network currently in place to address the problem. The primary cause of the roaming dog problem in the city is the poor eco…
Do Industrial Tax Abatements Spur Property Value Growth
Despite ongoing debate regarding the effectiveness of tax abatements, Michigan's Industrial Facilities Tax (IFT) abatement program has been widely and extensively used to boost local economic development. In this article, we estimate the effects of industrial property tax abatements on industrial, residential, and commercial property value growth in the context of regional competition for a panel of 152 communities in the five counties surroundin…
The Effects of Religious Messages on Racial Identity and System Blame among African Americans
This research examines the relationships between racial consciousness or identity, system blame, and religiosity for African Americans, with a particular focus on the effects of church-based education and activism on racial-group consciousness. This is achieved by clarifying religiosity to include both the civic message communicated and the political activism promoted by religious organizations. Data from the 1984 National Black Election Study ar…
Making the least of our differences? Trends in local economic development in Ontario and Michigan, 1990–2005
This paper examines trends in local economic development policies in Canadian and US cities over the past fifteen years. Using data drawn from surveys conducted at four points in time ‐ 1990, 1994, 2001, and 2005 ‐ the study provides a longitudinal assessment of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Findings indicate that Canadian and US cities have followed relatively similar trajectories in the extent to which…
Animals in the city
Humans have never been the only animals to live in cities and, as the world becomes ever more urbanized, the number and array of animal species in the urban setting are only increasing. This review essay provides a summary of extant research on human/animal interactions in cities. Four broad themes are discussed and outstanding research questions posed: (1) blurred boundaries and the intersectionality between human and nonhuman animals; (2) voice…
Memo from Motown
Economic decline and racial tension have left indelible marks on Detroit and its region. Parallel tracks of recession and race exacerbate and have been exacerbated by Detroit’s political and governing culture and the long-term inability of its leadership to develop a stable governing regime. Over the past 60 years Detroit suffered significant losses of population, jobs and tax base, forcing the City to file for bankruptcy protection. The Detroit …
Patterns of Tax Abatement Policy
Local Economic Development in the United States and Canada
This article examines local economic development goals and policies in Canada and the United States during a 7year period. The analysis is based on surveys of cities with a population greater than 10,000 in the two countries conducted in 1994 and 2001, allowing for an assessment of the extent of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Economic development priorities in both U.S. and Canadian cities have remained r…
Measuring the Creative Class
Looking across the growing creative class literature, several methodologies for measurement have been employed: analysis of census data and other economic, business, and quality of life indicators; case studies and other descriptive efforts; and surveys of business leaders and other experts. These methods have provided little overall sense of relative validity. This research examines the nature of the creative class using a variety of measures: o…
Sharing the Benefits of Economic Development
This article asks a basic question: What set of forces or factors might lead to the use of Type II economic development policies and thus, presumably, a more equitable distribution of economic development benefits? Research employing macrodata analysis has provided conflicting findings on this point. Hence, this research explores the question using both regression and more case-specific analysis. Findings suggest that residential need, strong may…
If All You Have Is A Hammer
This research explores the relative effectiveness of a comprehensive set of local economic development incentives and focuses on two questions: What contributions do common development tools make to the economic health of municipalities?; and, Are there other types of local activities, not typically considered as development tools, that might be more effective in contributing to local economic prosperity? It finds that the factors most consistent…
How Local Contexts Matter for Local Immigrant Policies
There is a dearth of studies comparing the relative explanatory power of several major theories related to policy support for immigrants specifically in the context of local policies (as opposed to those at the state and national levels) and related to immigrant settlement and attraction (as opposed to welfare or legal benefits). By testing alternate explanations of local immigration policy, the analysis contributes to the development of theory r…
It's safe to come, we've got lattes”
Progressive Economic Development Policies
It has become increasingly difficult to define progressive municipalities and progressive economic development. Conceptions of “local economic development” tied to neoliberal agendas are often narrow, focusing on efforts to offset perceived disadvantages of a location. Many traditional incentive policies result in a transfer of wealth from the public to the private sector. In this article, we consider whether the introduction of progressive econo…
Minding the Gap
This research focuses on public service provision in the context of an important emerging urban policy issue: increasing numbers of roaming animals in distressed cities in the United States. The case of urban animal welfare policy illustrates a policy domain that relies heavily on informal networks of nonprofit organizations for service provision. How these networks function and the interaction between nonprofit and public entities says much abou…
Mixing God's Work and the Public Business
Over the past thirty years, there has been a dramatic transformation in the way the American political process operates. There has been a growing public perception that traditional political institutions lack the capacity to meet existing challenges. This has led many observers to call for a rethinking of how government does its work. Numerous alternatives, including the use of faith-based organizations, have been suggested. The current popular d…
Reconsidering Private Sector Power
This article raises questions about several key assumptions about business involvement in local policy making generally and in local development policy specifically. At issue is the nature and extent of systemic business influence and the nature of public policies that result. Based on data from a survey of 350 cities in Canada and the United States and nine case studies, the authors conclude that business interests are not unitary nor cohesive w…
Compassion Fatigue Among Animal Shelter Volunteers
Compassion fatigue (CF) is a prevalent issue in both human- and animal-care-related industries and is a concern due to its negative effect on mental health and retainment in the profession. Individuals working in animal shelters are particularly at risk for CF from exposure to euthanasia, abandonment, and cruelty to animals. The effect of CF on animal shelter employees has been well-documented; however, volunteers may also be at risk yet have rec…
City assessments and local policy preferences
This research focuses on the relative impact of demographics, political ideology, and civic culture in the formation of local policy preferences and community assessments. The driving premise is that, whereas demographic and ideological culture variables will be correlated with policy preferences, local civic cultural variables will have independent effects and will enhance the explanatory power of models of local policy preference. Based on anal…
The Dog Days of Detroit
This article details the extent and import of the stray and feral dog problem in the City of Detroit in the context of regime and network theories of governance. Using data drawn from a survey of animal welfare service providers, this article provides a description of the complex and essentially grass roots service provision network currently in place to address the problem. The primary cause of the roaming dog problem in the city is the poor eco…
Same Governance, Different Day
This commentary focuses on three points related to the debate about urban governmental restructuring: existing conflicts in the literature regarding the outcomes of local government consolidation; insights about consolidation based on an assessment of the amalgamation of twelve municipal units creating the new city of Ottawa; and, a discussion of a variety of methodological and political factors that may well account for the continuing inconsiste…
Categories of Local Economic Development
In examining local economic development incentives, scholars have found it useful to employ typologies of development practices. Such typologies have been based on assumptions that techniques reflect functional categories, such as marketing and financial incentives, or can be organized by the nature of costs and benefits, or by the nature of incentive goals. While useful heuristic devices, little effort has been made to test these typologies empi…
The Present and Future of Urban Affairs Research
Urban Word Cloud by Kellee Remer (Global Urban Studies Program, Michigan State University)
Sexual Harassment Policy
This research explores hew public‐sector employees feel about sexual harassment policies in their workplace, identifies policy attributes that appear to lead to dissatisfaction, and examines employee suggestions for policy improvement. Based on a survey of employees in two public‐sector organizations, it concludes that satisfaction with policies is mixed and uncertainty is high, while reporting rates are low relative to harassment experiences. An…
Community attachment among residents living in public and commodity housing in China
Since China’s housing reform, increasing attention has been paid to public housing. While the quantity of public housing units is increasing, residents’ attachment to the community remains underexplored. This study evaluates the social dimension of public housing from the perspective of community attachment in Guangzhou, China. We use a mixed methods approach to examine what factors influence community attachment in both public and commodity hous…
The Interpersonal Context of Human/Nonhuman Animal Violence
This research explores the relationship between the nature of animal cruelty perpetrated by owners versus cruelty against animals of domestic partners, family members, and neighbors. All animal cruelty incidents in the City of Detroit for which there is a police report between 2007 and 2015 were included in the analysis. Animal cruelty was categorized into eight types of abuse: dog fighting, shooting, neglect, poisoning, threat, stabbing, kicking…
Introduction
This symposium presents a subset of findings from a larger multicity research project using a single operational and methodological scheme to explore the nature of civic culture. The overall purpose is to explore civic cultures in an array of larger cities, test an initial typology of civic culture, and begin to examine the connections between civic culture and local policy. The articles in the symposium make clear that it is possible to empirica…
Nimble Fingers
Journal Article Nimble Fingers: From 19th Century New England Mills to 20th Century Global Assembly Lines Get access Lyn Reese Lyn Reese Lyn Reese is director of the Women in the World Curriculum Resources Project in Berkeley, California. The contribution of her colleague, Jean Wilkinson, is acknowledged. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar OAH Magazine of History, Volume 3, Issue 3-4, Summer/Fall 1988, Pages …
Economic Development Strategies in Ontario
Local economic development practices in Ontario
It is clear that urban economic development practices in Ontario tend to cluster in certain classifications. The most widely and consistently used practices are in the area of marketing. On average, nine out of eleven techniques are practised by the cities surveyed. Governance tools and infrastructure investments are also fairly widely employed, with an average of six out of ten uniformly used. Governmental regulations, land and property manageme…
Decision Rules in Local Economic Development
This research explores the nature of local economic development decision making. A central theoretical issue common to all types of urban research is the extent of independence and rationality that public decision makers exhibit during the policymaking process. The author argues that local political decisions do matter in the economic development arena; in other words, cities are not totally constrained by external forces but make certain bounded…
Local Economic Development Practices Across the Northern Border
This article provides a comparison of local economic development techniques in the province of Ontario, Canada, and the state of Michigan. Through an examination of the use of 57 different economic development practices, the author concludes that Ontario cities are more likely to practice a wider array of techniques across a variety of areas. Michigan cities are more likely to rely on financial incentives such as tax abatements, downtown developm…
Categories of Local Economic Development
In examining local economic development incentives, scholars have found it useful to employ typologies of development practices. Such typologies have been based on assumptions that techniques reflect functional categories, such as marketing and financial incentives, or can be organized by the nature of costs and benefits, or by the nature of incentive goals. While useful heuristic devices, little effort has been made to test these typologies empi…
The Effects of State Enabling Legislation on Local Economic Development Policies
The authors examine the effects of state enabling legislation on local economic development policies. Using the 1989 International City/County Management Association economic development data set, economic development practices in cities located in states permitting and prohibiting local tax abatements are compared. They find that although state restrictions on local tax abatements have only limited effects on local policy activity, some evidence…
The Effects of Religious Messages on Racial Identity and System Blame among African Americans
This research examines the relationships between racial consciousness or identity, system blame, and religiosity for African Americans, with a particular focus on the effects of church-based education and activism on racial-group consciousness. This is achieved by clarifying religiosity to include both the civic message communicated and the political activism promoted by religious organizations. Data from the 1984 National Black Election Study ar…
Community Development Block Grant Spending Revisited
This article analyzes Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) spending by local governments between 1988-1992. We address four issues examining actual expenditure patterns in a small central city and five satellite cities in Michigan: changes in CDBG expenditure patterns; levels of social targeting; the extent of institutionalization of expenditure patterns; and the level of privatization of CDBG spending. We conclude that while spending for hou…
Local Elites in Western Democracies
Sexual Harassment Policy
This research explores hew public‐sector employees feel about sexual harassment policies in their workplace, identifies policy attributes that appear to lead to dissatisfaction, and examines employee suggestions for policy improvement. Based on a survey of employees in two public‐sector organizations, it concludes that satisfaction with policies is mixed and uncertainty is high, while reporting rates are low relative to harassment experiences. An…
Value, Exchange and the Social Economy
A market paradigm has been dominant in the field of community development, defining how governmental officials, development professionals and even academics view the world, and influencing the way problems are identified, the kind of questions asked, the solutions considered, the criteria for 'success' and even the evaluative methodologies employed. This article maintains that the market paradigm has not succeeded from the micro-social perspectiv…
Sharing the Benefits of Economic Development
This article asks a basic question: What set of forces or factors might lead to the use of Type II economic development policies and thus, presumably, a more equitable distribution of economic development benefits? Research employing macrodata analysis has provided conflicting findings on this point. Hence, this research explores the question using both regression and more case-specific analysis. Findings suggest that residential need, strong may…
You get what you pay for
This paper examines the relationship between and the effects of resource allocation and levels of professionalism on local economic development policies and strategies. In short, it asks a basic question; do cities get what they pay for in terms of economic development? A value judgment is, of course, inherent in this question; "what you pay for" serves as a euphemism for "good" economic development programs and policies. That is, if a local gove…
Modeling Economic Development Decision‐making
This research note examines two models of economic development policymaking. The literature on economic development and urban politics provides one image of reality regarding the factors associated with economic development policy in cities. When tested empirically, however, this model is found wanting. An alternative model is presented, identifying the complex set of factors associated with a single governmental policy, in this case, tax abateme…
Faith-based Economic Development
This article identifies factors that appear to contribute to the economic development activities of faith-based institutions. Based on in-depth interviews with churches in Detroit, it concludes that size and revenue of concretion, theology of the head clergy, active initiative by the head pastor or other religious leader, and location in a census tract with residents with lower educational attainment are important determinants of activities. Chur…
Response to “Preventing Sexual Harassment and Preserving Academic Freedom”
Assessing Local Government Sexual Harassment Policies
Assessing Local Government Sexual Harassment Policies
This article examines sexual harassment policies in local governments to assess compliance with model policies, and the nature and extent of training on the topic, and provides policy recommendations where policies appear lacking. A content analysis of municipal sexual harassment policies in the state of Michigan suggests that policy shortcomings are those of omission rather than commission. Few policies include any elements that have been identi…
Reconsidering Private Sector Power
This article raises questions about several key assumptions about business involvement in local policy making generally and in local development policy specifically. At issue is the nature and extent of systemic business influence and the nature of public policies that result. Based on data from a survey of 350 cities in Canada and the United States and nine case studies, the authors conclude that business interests are not unitary nor cohesive w…
Gender, Policy, Politics, and Work
This article reviews feminist comparative and transnational research on workplace policy, politics and the state.The first section examines a range of theoretical approaches to the topic.W e then present a variety of methodologies for conducting comparative and transnational research on policy developments.Informed by a number of case studies included in the symposium, we explore the dynamics and determinants, both national and supranational, of …
Gender, Policy, Politics, and Work
This article reviews feminist comparative and transnational research on workplace policy, politics and the state. The first section examines a range of theoretical approaches to the topic. We then present a variety of methodologies for conducting comparative and transnational research on policy developments. Informed by a number of case studies included in the symposium, we explore the dynamics and determinants, both national and supranational, o…
A Matter of Faith
In light of a federal policy-making environment that at least rhetorically has supported greater roles for faith-based organizations (FBOs) in social service provision and community development, this article explores the nature and extent of faith-based economic development activities in an urban inner-city environment. Based on a phone survey of clergy, the analysis addresses the following policy issues: track records of FBOs in economic develop…
Local Economic Development in the United States and Canada
This article examines local economic development goals and policies in Canada and the United States during a 7year period. The analysis is based on surveys of cities with a population greater than 10,000 in the two countries conducted in 1994 and 2001, allowing for an assessment of the extent of change versus stability in overall approach toward economic development. Economic development priorities in both U.S. and Canadian cities have remained r…
Same Governance, Different Day
This commentary focuses on three points related to the debate about urban governmental restructuring: existing conflicts in the literature regarding the outcomes of local government consolidation; insights about consolidation based on an assessment of the amalgamation of twelve municipal units creating the new city of Ottawa; and, a discussion of a variety of methodological and political factors that may well account for the continuing inconsiste…
Political science (52 works) · Economics (42 works) · Sociology (32 works) · Business (25 works) · Economic growth (25 works) · Law (22 works) · Public economics (19 works) · Geography (18 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (18 works)