Digital Commons Network^™

Rural Community Economic Leadership By People With Disabilities, Tom Seekins Ph.D., University Of Montana Rural Institute

Employment

The lack of employment opportunities for people with disabilities is a major problem according to vocational rehabilitation (VR) service providers, American Indian Section 121 employment programs, and people with disabilities (Arnold, Seekins, & Nelson, 1997). This is particularly true in rural areas where local businesses struggle to create enough quality jobs for community members, including people with disabilities. In the face of this challenge, rural residents with and without disabilities frequently opt to pursue self-employment. Yet, VR and Section 121 programs are often confused about existing business opportunities and their potential for success. There are established procedures to analyze markets …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2001, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, Rob Baade, John R. Broderick, Michael Clemons, Steve Daniel, Jeffrey Harlow, Wil King, Sharon Lomax, Deborah L. Miller, Jim Oliver, Ken Plum, Wayne Talley, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's second annual "State of the Region" Report. While it represents the work of many individuals connected in various ways to the university, the Report does not constitute an "official" viewpoint of the University, or it's president, Dr. Roseann Runte.

This year's Report was produced with the goal of making Hampton Roads an even better place to live. Those who know and love the region of Hampton Roads frequently boast of its numerous strengths and successes, but we do so with the understanding that it would be possible for us to improve the region's performance in …

The Information Technology Industry In The State Of Ohio And Its Regions: 1989 To 2000, Ziona Austrian, Jill Norton

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report was prepared for Ohio’s IT Alliance, a statewide network of six regional IT groups located throughout Ohio and headquartered in Dayton. The study was conducted by the Ohio Economic Development Information Network, better known as the ES202 Network. The ES202 Network is a statewide group of ten urban and rural universities that develops and maintains a database of employment, payroll, and establishments at the zip code level throughout Ohio. ES202 Network researchers are engaged in industry and labor force research that utilizes this unique database.

Ua3/9/5 Faculty Staff Convocation, Wku President's Office

WKU Administration Documents

Speech delivered by WKU president Gary Ransdell at fall convocation. He discusses enrollment, budget, tuition, salaries, insurance, administrative reorganization, legislative priorities, construction of Mass Media & Technology Hall and Guthrie Tower, engineering, economic development, information technology and capital campaign.

Deforestation And Land Degradation On The Ethiopian Highlands: A Strategy For Physical Recovery, Badege Bishaw

International Conference on African Development Archives

Deforestation, accelerated soil erosion, and land degradation are serious problems in Ethiopia. To overcome these problems, efforts have been made to launch afforestation and conservation programs; however, success to date has been limited. This paper will discuss agriculture and forestry practices on the Ethiopian Highlands and try to identify the causes of deforestation and land degradation there. Agroforestry and social forestry practices, plantation forestry, and conservation of the remaining forests are proposed as a strategy for physical recovery. Social and policy issues, such as participation of the local people in natural resource management and the existence of clear land and …

Perspectives On Institutional Reform And Development In Ethiopia: The Critical Role Of Building Enabling Institutions For Economic Growth And Development, Sisay Asefa

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper provides some normative perspectives on sustainable economic and political reform in contemporary Ethiopia, by focusing on the need to establish enabling institutions for economic growth and development. The paper begins with the basic premise that poverty in Ethiopia is primarily a problem of institutional failure, and that at a successful economic reform not only must be focused on poverty-focused economic growth in a country where about 50 percent of the population is below the poverty line, but it must also be accompanied with institutional reform and development that may result in a positive-sum outcome for all constituent groups …

Looking At African Value System Through Cultural Dimensions: How Do African Countries Culturally Differ Among Themselves And From The United States?, Habte G. Woldu

International Conference on African Development Archives

The study through a variety of cultural dimensions, measures the cultural differences and similarities of four different African countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa. The national cultures of the four African countries are analyzed through a methodology for systematically assessing cultural differences. The African countries are compared with that of the United States of America. The output of the study clearly shows that there are cultural differences among the African countries as well as between the African countries and the United States. African respondents demonstrated significantly higher cultural traits in collective & hieratical relations, being/feeling & risk avoidance related …

Colonizing Ideas: A Comparative Look At Receptivity To The Adoption Of Western Education In Japan And Ethiopia, Getachew Felleke

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper examines the challenges and promises that accompanied the introduction of modern education into two non-modern societies. The study is motivated by an interest to fathom some of the causes and sources of Ethiopia’s multifaceted social and economic problems. Taking as its point of departure the view that, over the long run, evolutionary progress of societies should be the norm, the study seeks to identify the impediments that have blocked such a normal pace of progress in Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s early experience in building up its education system is compared and contrasted with that of Japan’s. The roles played by …

Causes Of Seasonal Food Insecurity In Oromiya Zone Of Amhara Region: Farmers' View, Degefa Tolossa

International Conference on African Development Archives

Ethiopia is currently facing challenging problems, ranging from those induced by environmental crises to those caused by demographic and socio-economic constraints which adversely affect peoples` production system. The country is generally characterized by extreme poverty, continued and high population growth rate, severe environmental degradation and recurrent drought (Getachew 1995; Markos,1997, NOVIB, 1999). Resulting from these, the performance of agriculture, the sector that makes livelihood for 85% of the country’s population, has been poor over the last few decades, to the extent that the country could not adequately feed its population from domestic production. This has been manifested in the prevailing …

Impact Of Government Policies On The Development Of Ict In Ethiopia, Dawit Bekele

International Conference on African Development Archives

During the last decades Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the lives of a vast portion of the world’s population. Beyond any doubt, the impact of ICT on the human civilization will continue to be very important for decades to come.

The Elite And The Quest For Peace, Democracy And Development In Ethiopian: Lessons To Be Learnt, Merera Gudina

International Conference on African Development Archives

The present experiment involves the objective of accomplishing two historical tasks: the tasks of creating a country that houses 'nations, nationalities and peoples' of equals and ending an authoritarian rule by democratizing the Ethiopian state and society as a whole, a precondition for peace and development. However, as the result of the accumulated five grand failures of the Ethiopian elite in a century, the prennial quest for peace, democracy and development continue to be as illusive as ever. The most fundamental question is, therefore, what lessons to be learnt to move forward? This paper, which sums up the political history …

Food Security And Rural Vulnerability In Ethiopia: A Development Perspective, Alemayehu Lirenso

International Conference on African Development Archives

This paper analyzes current food security and rural vulnerability situation in present day Ethiopia from a development perspective. In the sections that follow: (i) various issues relating to food security and vulnerability are presented, (ii) current food aid management policies and practices are reviewed and their implications for overall agricultural development policy are evaluated, and (iii) alternative strategies for combating the risks of future famines are suggested. The analysis is based partly on my own previous studies and partly on review of other recent studies listed in the references.

Developing Better Economic Information About Coastal Resources As A Tool For Integrated Coastal Management, Judith T. Kildow Dr, Brian Baird, Charles S. Colgan, Hauke Kite-Powell, Rodney Weiher

Publications

Measuring economic activity associated with the ocean through examination of the goods and services produced by specified industries and in coastal locations will provide answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about the ocean economy. But even this data will still be incomplete. Beyond are a variety of "non-market" values, which are needed to complete the picture. When someone goes to the beach in Florida or boats on Chesapeake Bay, there may be little that is directly purchased on that day. But the popularity of such activities is testament to their underlying value. Economists have developed a variety …

Globalization And The Paradox Of Incorporation And Marginalization: An Exploratory Note On Sub-Saharan Africa, Charles R. Lartey

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Globalization has of late become the lingua franca of the study of the international political economic system. As its ideological counterpart, globalization has elevated neoliberalism to the status of an international theology. To harness the benefits of a globalizing world economy, conventional wisdom consider the dictums underlying neoliberal policies as “immutable laws” that must be adopted by both the developing and the developed world.

Utilizing a structured, focused analysis based on a case study of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), this research challenges the orthodox notion that the new international context of development that is instigated by the imperatives of globalization, and …

Social Norms And The Time Allocation Of Women's Labor In Burkina Faso, Michael Kevane, Bruce Wydick

Economics

This paper proposes that major determinants of allocation of women's time are social norms that regulate the economic activities of women. Our emphasis on norms contrasts with approaches that view time allocation as determined by household-level economic variables. Using data from Burkina Faso, we show that social norms significantly explain differences in patterns of time allocation between two ethnic groups: Mossi and Bwa. Econometric results show women from the two groups exhibiting different responses to changes in farm capital. Implications are that policies that foster changes in social norms may have more permanent effects on altering women's behavior.

Poverty In Thailand: Causes And Solutions, Nuntaporn Artontammakun

Theses Digitization Project

Poverty has been reduced substantially, but most poverty reducing programs have raised other problems out of poverty. This paper outlines the principal causes of poverty in an emerging nation-Thailand. It presents strategies for reducing the level of poverty.

No. 04: Gender Concerns In South African Migration Policy, Jonathan Crush, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

This paper draws attention to the need for a gender analysis of the South African government’s proposed new policy on international migration, by identifying a number of areas of implicit gender discrimination. Such “discrimination by default” is of more than academic relevance, having important implications for national and regional development. Research undertaken by the Southern African Migration Project indicates a growing “feminization” of migration to South Africa from the Southern African region, as well as gender-specific motives and patterns of migration. If migration is to be effectively managed, such realities must be taken into account. The paper concludes by advocating …

No. 21: Cross-Border Raiding And Community Conflict In The Lesotho-South African Border Zone, Gary Kynoch, Theresa Ulicki, Tsepang Cekwane, Booi Mohapi, Mampolokeng Mohapi, Ntsoaki Phakisi, Palesa Seithleko

Southern African Migration Programme

Movement backwards and forwards across borders for work is often considered to be the primary form of unauthorized movement in Southern Africa. In southern Lesotho, a new and particularly dangerous form of two-way cross-border movement has become entrenched. This situation warrants the label “crisis”; a crisis which is devastating parts of the countryside in both Lesotho and the northern Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

Media and official attention has focused on the extreme violence which accompanies cross-border stock raiding. This paper seeks to understand the social and economic roots and impacts of cross-border stock theft. Such an analysis is …

2001 American Incentive System Almanac, Don P. Diffine Ph.D.

Belden Center Monographs

No abstract provided.

Part 2: Major League Sports Teams: A Pipe Dream?, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

There is remarkably little economic evidence in favor of major league sports franchises, even in cities such as Baltimore. Cities and regions that subsidize major league sports teams nearly always find it a losing proposition. If a region, such as Hampton Roads, attempts to attract a major league sports team, then it should do so for reasons of pride and identification rather than economics.

Culture, Development, And Government: Reservations In India, Evan W. Osborne

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Reading Changes In Family Support Through Regional Development In China, Ge Lin

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This article examines the degree to which the traditional family support system would be reshaped by the modernization and industrialization from a geo-developmental perspective. In particular, we examine the impact of rapid social changes and economic developments on family support for older parents in contemporary urban China to assess trends that might lead to a different path from the western style of old-age support purported by modernization theory. Based on the 1992 Survey on China’s Support Systems for the Elderly, the study divides the sample from three levels of economic development, which in turn, are used as proxies for developmental …

Dispositions For Lexicographic Preferences Of Evironmental Goods: Integrating Economics, Psychology, And Ethics, Randall S. Rosenberger, George L. Peterson, Andrea Clarke, Thomas C. Brown

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

This paper combines the psychometric methods of paired comparisons and environmental disposition measurement to explain seemingly lexicographic behavior in choice experiments. A paired comparison experiment is developed that measures economic values using a choice set composed of public goods, private goods, and sums of money. The method provides a detailed map of each respondent’s stated preferences, among the choice set elements. Two treatments are used that differ only on the range of the dollar magnitudes – Treatment A ranges from$10 to $700. Treatment B ranges from $10 to $9,000. In either treatment, a proportion of the respondents potentially exhibit lexicographic …

An Integrative Hierarchical Framework For Environmental Valuation: Value Pluralism, Thresholds, And Deliberation, Randall S. Rosenberger

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

When assessing people’s values for the natural environment, a variety of methodological approaches may be required. This is because value pluralism negates the ability to reduce the various kinds of values to a single conception of value or super-value. Environmental valuation endeavors are defined by the question to be answered. However, for some people, the methodology employed may conflict with their perception of the issue and what values are most important to them, i.e., the methods employed are not globally incentive compatible with all modes of expressing one’s values. Therefore, any single disciplinary approach to environmental valuation may ignore these …

Quality Of Life Satisfaction: A Comparative Survey Analysis Of The Eastern Panhandle And Southern West Virginia Counties, James O. Bukenya, Tesfa Gebremedhin

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The main objective of this paper is to analyze and report quality of life survey responses from a random sample of over 1028 individuals from 21 counties in West Virginia. The survey responses are drawn from a quality of life survey conducted in 2000. Perhaps the most interesting observation from the responses was not that differences exist among counties but that, in all counties, the level of satisfaction was remarkably high (over 50%). Only small fractions of individuals were explicitly dissatisfied, surprisingly in counties with the highest growth levels in per capita incomes.

Comparing Three Spatial Cluster Tests From Rare To Common Spatial Events, Ge Lin

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

In the past few years, several new tests for spatial clustering have been proposed. With ever increasing capability of GIS and wider availability of spatial statistic functions, spatial analysts are likely to face challenge of properly using these tests. Seemingly gaps also exist between the development of new tests and follow up evaluations against various assumptions. In this research note, I compare three cluster tests along a range of distribution from rare to common spatial events. The results not only revealed sensitive data feature that each test is designed to detect, but also clarified the interpretation based on the nature …

Growing The Economy Of Clay Country Through Industry Targeting: A Preliminary Analysis, David W. Hughes, Steven N. Zaricki

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Neighborhood Progress, Inc.'S Community Organizing Support Program, Susan Hertzler Burkholder, Kathryn W. Hexter

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

In 1998, the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland began a program-related initiative to increase the availability, affordability and quality of permanent, affordable housing units for low-income and underserved families and persons in Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties. The Affordable Housing Initiative will award approximately six million dollars to community organizations over a five-year period. As part of this initiative, the Foundation funded more than 25 grantees to undertake a variety of non-capital projects. The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University was asked to evaluate the overall initiative and the projects of each of the grantees.

The Market For Medical Ethics, Maxwell Gregg Bloche

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

At the core of Kenneth Arrow’s classic 1963 essay on medical uncertainty is a claim that has failed to carry the day among economists. This claim—that physician adherence to an anti-competitive ethic of fidelity to patients and suppression of pecuniary influences on clinical judgment pushes medical markets toward social optimality—has won Arrow near-iconic status among medical ethicists (and many physicians). Yet conventional wisdom among health economists, including several participants in this symposium, holds that this claim is either naïve or outdated. Health economists admire Arrow’s article for its path-breaking analysis of market failures resulting from information asymmetry, uncertainty, and moral …

Review Of "Changes In Income Inequality Within U.S. Metropolitain Areas" By J.F. Madden, Philip N. Jefferson

Economics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.