Community Development Stakeholder Data: Exploring Economic Inclusion and Emerging Issues Using Diffusion Indexes

• Activity Number: 444
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Government Statistics Section
• Author(s): Barbara Robles* and Kelly Edmiston
• Companies: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
• Keywords: data analytics ; mixed methods ; internet surveys ; text analysis ; community development ; survey methods

Abstract

Using email-based survey data that cover 16 quarters in the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, 2010-2014, we calculate diffusion indices for current and expected economic performance in low- and moderate income communities across twelve Federal Reserve Bank districts. The surveys include both structural and open-ended text responses. We provide a longitudinal analysis of housing, workforce, credit, and general financial well-being indicators. Trends in these indicators are compared to the limited external data that are available and across reserve banks to (1) validate the use of the diffusion indexes for accurately assessing economic conditions in low- and moderate-income communities, and (2) evaluate the economic performance of low- and moderate-income communities during the lengthy economic recovery. Such analyses provide an opening for a novel integration of micro-data to assess regional and macroeconomic issues as well as identify emerging issues in local community economic development.