M. Anne Visser Professor of Community and Regional Development
M. Anne Visser is a Professor of Community and Regional
Development in the Department of Human Ecology at the University
of California, Davis. Her research interests include the
socioeconomic implications of the informalization of work and
employment, low-wage and informal labor markets, and the impact
of state policy and socially-based labor market interventions on
economic opportunity.
Because of large acreages, sparse populations, and distinct sociopolitical dynamics, many rural communities are beginning to assemble their own sets of economic indicators to fit unique policy agendas. In a recent paper, we reviewed over thirty years of practical efforts from six regions that created economic development reports. These reports cover only 60 percent of non-metro counties in the US, with more than half having been issued in the last five years.
Though immigration policymaking has traditionally occurred at the federal level, it is increasingly prevalent at sub-national levels, too. In a recent study, we examined the adoption of these policies at the county level in the United States. Specifically, we considered the implementation of migrant labor market regularizations (LRs) between 2004 and 2014. LRs affect aspects of migrant workers’ status in labor markets and include laws and ordinances related to anti-solicitation, language access, local enforcement of federal immigration law, and employment verification.
