This article provides a new method for measuring state-sponsored econo
mic development programs. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the auth
ors derive estimates for five supply-side and three demand-side policy
packages, consistent with the theoretical framework proposed by Eisin
ger in The Rise of the Entrepreneurial State: State and Local Developm
ent in the United States. The authors provide state-level estimates of
each policy dimension for the appropriate years between 1970 and 1992
that are amenable to a variety of state-level research designs. These
estimates have advantages over other recent efforts to measure state
economic development strategies.