ON THE CONTINUING POPULARITY OF INDUSTRIAL RECRUITMENT

Classic arguments against industrial recruitment as a local economic d evelopment strategy are reviewed. These include zero-sum effect, long odds, overbidding, low multipliers, increased costs to businesses and residents, and industrial obsolescence. Potential reasons for industri al recruitment's continuing popularity are explored, including traditi on, expected value, political payoff, high discount rate, weak communi ties, diversification, broad applicability, appropriateness, perverse outcomes, potential success, and underestimated benefits. Methods for quantifying major reasons for the popularity of recruiting are outline d.