REDI Reports

Summary of Public Returns to the Colorado Conservation Easement Tax Credit Program

February 2024
Amy Greenwell, Andrew Seidl, Cole Crossett, Drew Bennett, Michael Menefee
Conservation, Conservation Easements, Tax

Colorado has invested substantially in voluntary adoption of conservation easements. One of the state’s principal efforts, the Conservation Easement Tax Credit program, includes about 2.3 million acres (3.4%) of Colorado’s lands.

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Coloradans’ Views on Farm Labor: A Closer Look at the 2022 Public Perceptions and Attitudes about Colorado Agriculture Survey

January 2024
Anita Alves Pena, Jonathan Cable, Martha Sullins, Dawn Thilmany
Agriculture, Farmers, Labor

Approximately 98% of Coloradans surveyed agreed that Colorado’s food and ag industry is important to the state’s future economic development.
Over 75% feel that it is very or somewhat important that farm/ranch labor is treated fairly in terms of pay and working conditions when making food purchasing decisions.

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The Economic Contribution of River-Based Recreation in the Little Yampa Canyon, Colorado

River-based recreation on the Yampa River contributes $70,373.68 in estimated output to Craig, CO.
A proposed 660-acre public land acquisition would provide an additional $109,497.02 in output.

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REDI@CSU Awarded EDA Grant to Establish University Center

October 2023
Ray Miller, Stephan Weiler, Tim Komarek
Community, Education, Technical Assistance

REDI and its partners were awarded a $750,000 grant to support economic development in Colorado
The grant will establish an EDA University Center (UC) at Colorado State University (CSU).

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How can a Tourism Support Fee facilitate Economic Diversification in Clear Creek County?

Based on a 1% tax rate, a tourism support fee can potentially generate over $1million in annual tax revenue.
To foster economic diversification, we recommend that Clear Creek County establish a loan fund from a tourism support fee to encourage entrepreneurship.

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Hemp Value Chains at Ten Years

Nationally, hemp land area remains less than 15% of 2019 peak Despite this decreasing trend, the share intended for fiber production increased in 2021–22.

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The Role of Bank and Non-Bank Lenders in making Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans to Small Businesses in Fort Collins, CO.

July 2023
Alexandra Bernasek, Keelin Jakel, Nathan Rogers, Niroj Bhattarai
Banking, Jobs, Labor

This research focuses on small businesses in Fort Collins, CO that received loans through the PPP.
We find that non-bank lenders (LLCs and credit unions) were an important source of loans, especially for the “smallest” businesses (those with 5 or fewer employees) that received loans at later stages of the loan disbursement process.

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The Surprising Disappearance of Labor Unions in Rural America

June 2023
Cindy Vo, Ellery Osborne, Zachary Schaller
Labor, Unions

Union elections per worker were surprisingly high in rural areas during the 1960s and 1970s; the decline of unions was much more rural in nature than previously assumed
In rural areas, sectoral employment shifts were only minorly more impactful than in the nation as a whole.

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Federal Spending in Colorado: Lessons from the Budget Control Act of 2011

This report highlights the relative importance of federal procurement spending in the private sector across different regions of Colorado.
Several Colorado counties receive a significant amount (over $3,000 per capita a year) of federal spending.

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Economic wins and losses from reintroducing wolves in Colorado

April 2023
Benjamin Ghasemi, Dana L. Hoag, Jesse Burkhardt, Robin Young
Wolves

In 2020, Coloradans narrowly voted, 51-49%, to reintroduce wolves in late
We estimate that the benefits to yes-voters are about $115 million/year, likely more than 50 times government spending for those that will experience losses.

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Evolving Demographic Diversity in El Paso County

The demographic diversity of El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak, and a variety of Air Force operations is rapidly changing.

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The Effects of Alcohol Liberalization on Liquor Stores and Rural and Urban Shopping Patterns

The introduction of alcohol into grocery and convenience stores in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas causes a substantial (2.9%-6.8%) decline in statewide monthly liquor store visitation.

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Electricity Sector Emissions and Expanding Renewable Energy in Colorado

S. CO2 equivalent emissions must be reduced 51% by 2030 to remain consistent with the IPCC target of limiting warming to 1.5° Celsius
In 2019, Colorado legislated targets of reducing emissions “26% by 2025, 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050 from 2005 levels”

Electricity generation accounts for roughly 25% of Colorado emissions, and the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard legislation is targeting an 80% reduction in emissions from electric power by 2030 and 95% by 2050

To avoid catastrophic consequences1 from climate change, the IPCC advises that global warming must be limited to 1.5° Celsius (C) from pre-industrial times.…

The Ownership of Enterprise in Colorado: Agricultural and Community-Based Cooperatives

December 2022
Daniel Mooney, Martha Sullins, Seon Hyen Kim, Dawn Thilmany
Agriculture, Community, Cooperatives

A cooperative is a business that is owned and controlled by the people who use its
In 2020, there were 25 farm cooperatives headquartered in Colorado with 20,000+ Many other types of coops also exist that serve the agricultural, farm, and food communities
Cooperatives represent an important form of business organization in Colorado, both in terms of number of members and net business volumes.

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Maternal Health Care Deserts in Colorado

In Colorado, around 40% of counties are maternal health care deserts, which are counties without a birth center, hospital offering obstetric care, or any obstetric care providers.

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Changes in Colorado Alcohol Distribution Law: Preliminary evidence from scanner data on changes in household retail alcohol purchase patterns

October 2022
Alessandro Bonanno, Marco Costanigro, Siwei Gao
Alcohol, Beer

Policy changes have reshaped the Colorado alcohol retail Starting in January 2019, licensed retailers could sell full-strength beer. The number of retail liquor licenses held by a single entity is set to increase over time.

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Mapping Food Access and Related Risk Factors in Forecasting Social Disorder

September 2022
Alejandro Giménez-Santana, Alexis R. Kennedy, Leslie W. Kennedy
Food Deserts

In Newark, NJ, food deserts, or low access to food, negatively impact the health and wellbeing of community members.
Individuals who frequent at-risk bodegas to get food have increased risks of becoming victims of aggravated assault.

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Understanding Commuting Flows in Larimer County and Fort Collins

Using Census Bureau’s LODES data, local governments and communities can better understand commuting patterns since 2002.
Exploring different levels of geography exhibit interesting commuting
Fort Collins and Larimer County provide an interesting case to illustrate several measures and visualizations of commuting dynamics

The physical and virtual commuting of workers deeply impacts local area workforce dynamics and is foundational to the economic integration of larger regions.…

Geographic and Racial Variations in Mortgage Loan-to-Value Ratios

This report highlights regional variation in median Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, a key indicator of housing affordability volatility.
Colorado’s median LTV ratio is below the national average, and has fallen since
In Colorado and the US, Black and Hispanic buyers have substantially higher median LTV ratios than White and Asian buyers.

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Evaluating Housing Affordability in Fort Collins

June 2022
Gregory R. Miller, Kendall Stephenson, Ryan DeFilippi
Housing

Housing accessibility for all socio-economic groups is a prime goal of any
Colorado’s Fort Collins was once affordable to many, but now workers in most of the lower-paid occupations can no longer afford to live where they work.

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New Insights into the Geography of Female Entrepreneurship

In 2017, ¾ of all US businesses were nonemployers. 41% of nonemployer establishments were female-led, and female-led ventures accounted for 24% of total nonemployer revenues.

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Gendered Difference in Student Completion due to COVID-19

April 2021
Jaren Seid, Niroj Bhattarai
Education, Gender, Inequality, PAC, REDI Report

To examine COVID-19’s effect on student completion and whether there were differences between genders and between older students and traditional students, we analyze student performance data from courses offered in spring 2020 and spring 2019 from multiple campuses in Northern Colorado.

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Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Experience: 1980-2020

• Data from the US Department of Labor provide a useful historical look at a number of important components of state unemployment insurance programs, including average benefit levels, tax rates, number of exhaustions, and recipiency rates.…

Findings from the Colorado Agricultural Labor Survey for Employers

• The majority of Colorado farmers and ranchers surveyed reported being able to obtain all the workers they needed in the last five years (78%), depicting a stark contrast from a 2019 California Farm Bureau Federation survey in which only 44% of respondents reported the same.…

Exploring Economic Empowerment and Marginalization using Data from Developing Countries

October 2021
Alexandra Bernasek, Anh Nguyen, Anita Alves Pena, Arisa Thongngam, Ashish Sedai, Brenden Brundage, Lackson Mudenda, Niroj Bhattarai, Prasiddha Shakya, Ray Miller, Wisnu Nugroho
Inequality, Migration, PAC, REDI Report, Sanitation, Water

• The Poverty Action Center (PAC@REDI) is engaged in several ongoing data analyses to answer questions at the forefront of applied economics globally.…

The Changing Face of Food Retailing: Growth in Online Platforms during COVID

April 2022
Hailey Edmondson, MacKenzie Gill, Dawn Thilmany
COVID, Food Systems, Market Channels, REDI Report

COVID accelerated the move to online sales platforms for food purchases
Delivery and curbside pickup of online food purchases have held steady or grown across all market channels during the pandemic
Adoption of online sales may persist among some buyers, while others will choose to return to stores and restaurants, offering food enterprises more options to market their products

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health and social distancing mandates caused unprecedented shifts and disruptions for local and regional food systems (LRFS).…

Inside the Rise of the Gig Economy

We propose the use of nonemployer establishment data as an approximation of the “gig” economy.
The Great Recession that began in 2007 made the rise of the gig economy particularly pronounced, as the growth of nonemployer establishments dramatically outpaced traditional employer establishments.

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The Great Recession and the Startup Slowdown

June 2017
Nicholas Kacher, Stephan Weiler
Entrepreneurship, Labor, REDI Report, Startups

The Great Recession caused an unprecedented downturn in employer startups.
The “startup slowdown” shifts job generation away from dynamic, young businesses, increasing the economy’s reliance on existing establishments to expand.

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Colorado’s New Gig: Colorado Nonemployer Analysis

August 2017
Jacob Moore
Entrepreneurship, Gig Economy, Nonemployer, REDI Report

We construct a “nonemployer location quotient” to measure the industrial concentration of gig nonemployers in Colorado compared to the country as a whole.

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The Decline of Local Banking in the United States

The share of deposits held in locally-owned banks has fallen steadily in the US and in Colorado since the 1990s.
This shift has hit already-underserved rural Colorado counties especially
A decline in local bank shares imposes welfare costs on consumers and business ventures seeking financial services, and contributes to macroeconomic

Since the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the United States’ banking system has been the subject of much attention.…