This article analyzes retirement communities from the standpoint of their linkages to their surrounding environments as well as to the state and the nation. A conceptual framework employing five types of linkages—regulators, constituencies, competitors, suppliers, and residuals—is adapted for the analysis. The political economy approach is used to direct attention to ways that the political and economic systems shape the environment in which the retirement communities operate. Uncertainty and risk are explored to examine the adaptability and viability of retirement communities.
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