20 research outputs found
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Survey of Texas Black-owned Businesses
Report on the state of black-owned businesses in Texas, based on 2010 Census data and a statewide survey of black business owners conducted in 2013. The demographic portion of the study found that the number of black-owned businesses in Texas grew faster in the early 2000s than the state average for all businesses, but the vast majority of black-owned businesses in Texas were small, with no paid employees other than the owner. In sales and number of employees, black-owned businesses lagged behind state averages. In their survey responses, a majority of black business owners indicated they felt they had the education and skills needed to succeed. They saw room for improvement in the areas of political access and contracting opportunities.Bureau of Business Researc
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Survey of Texas Hispanic-owned Businesses with Paid Employees
This report analyzes a survey of 2,811 Texas Hispanic-owned firms with paid employees conducted in 2011. The findings presented here build on results from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners (U.S. Census Bureau) and identify challenges to growth among Texas Hispanic-owned firms with employees. These firms were responsible for the vast majority of economic activity (sales, employment) among Texas Hispanic-owned businesses in 2007, despite representing only 9 percent of all Hispanic-owned businesses in Texas. Key findings reported in the study include the importance of the need for management and leadership training among the owners and their employees; the need for communication training; and the need for improved access to public- and private-sector customers. Case studies of individual companies illustrate the survey findings.Bureau of Business Researc
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Check the Score: Credit Scoring and Insurance Losses: Is There a Connection?
Over the past decade, the insurance industry has begun using credit histories to create credit scores for individuals who apply for or, sometimes, renew automobile and other insurance policies. Insurers use these scores in rate-making decisions, raising premiums for individuals with poor credit history and lowering premiums for those with good credit history. Additionally, some insurers may use credit scores in underwriting procedures, including placement of policyholders within groups. So is there a connection between credit history and the potential to incur insurance loss? In examining the relationship between credit scoring and loss history, researchers must first determine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the two and whether or not the information contained in the credit score "new" information is already used for pricing the insurance.IC2 Institut
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Talking About Texas: Texas Business Review and 75 Years of Change
Among the projects listed in 1926 for the newly established Bureau of Business Research (BBR) at the University of Texas at Austin was the "issuance of a publication setting forth the economic health of the state." And so began Texas Business Review (TBR) in April 1927. This special 75th anniversary issue hopefully provides an insightful and enjoyable look back that will perhaps enhance our view on where the twenty-first century is going.IC2 Institut
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Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program: 2014 Update
This study updates the 2011 "Texas Moving Image Incentive Program: The Economic Benefits from Incentives" study from the Bureau of Business Research. It finds that there are economic benefits (direct and indirect) totaling 74.8 million that the Incentive Program spent on moving image projects from 2007 to 2012. The study also provides a summary of the economic impacts not just from spending associated with projects funded with incentives, but from the entire moving image industry in Texas.Bureau of Business Researc
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Texas Moving Image Incentive Program: The Economic Benefits from Incentives
This study analyzes the economic and fiscal impacts of the $80 million Texas Moving Image
Industry Incentive Program. The incentive program was created to encourage companies,
producers, and small businesses to choose Texas over other states when selecting sites for their
film, television, commercial, and video game productions.Bureau of Business Researc
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Texas TV, Film and Video Game Incentives: Fast Forward to Big Economic Impact
State economic development incentive programs are significant factors when attracting film, TV, commercials and video game producers to a state. This article summarizes the findings of an economic impact analysis that was performed in the late 2010 and early 2011 for the Texas Association of Business that focused on the Incentive Program's impact on the Texas economy, including jobs, fiscal impacts, and direct and indirect spending associated with projects that had received or been approved for moving image incentive funds between September 2007 and December 2010.IC2 Institut
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Empresarias Decididas: Women Entrepreneurs in the Americas
"Empresarias Decididas: Women Entrepreneurs in the Americas" by Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll and Daniela Brandazza: Statistics indicated noteworthy increases in the numbers of U.S. and Canadian women entrepreneurs in the 1990s. What factors contributed to this growth? And do these factors also translate into success for their colleagues in Latin America? Also in this issue: "Women and Business Leadership: Hurdles, Progress, and Opportunities" by J. Bruce Kellison.IC2 Institut
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Pollution Abatement Spending and Corporate Profitability: Texas Manufacturing
Manufacturing firms are generally on the front lines of environmental protection because most industrial pollution is a result of manufacturing activity. The problem is that firms do not have strong incentives for pollution abatement because they see it as an additional cost and investment in nonproductive activity. This article focuses on the Texas manufacturing sector, where PACE (pollution abatement costs and expenditures) spending, perhaps surprisingly, led the nation in 2005.IC2 Institut
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Asset-Based, Sustainable Local Economic Development: Using Community Participation to Improve Quality of Life Across Rural, Small-Town, and Urban Communities
We analyze survey data from 5,487 residents of 85 Texas communities, including rural communities, small towns, medium-sized cities, and the five largest urban centers, to model the influence of the degree of urbanity and rurality of a community as well as residents’ social position, values, and their satisfaction with local assets. The paper’s central argument is that a wide range of factors impact how community members think about their needs and thus should be considered in any community development process. This human-centered approach looks at how community specific factors impact economic and quality-of-life development project preferences in support of adapting community development decision-making processes according to the context of each community. For the sake of parsimony, this paper presents results for three community development project concepts: (1) renovating some downtown buildings as mixed-use facilities with retail shops and apartments, (2) opening a community health center, and (3) deploying gigabit high-speed fiber broadband internet in the downtown area. Our findings specifically highlight areas where participatory processes can be introduced to guide further interactions be- tween experts and community members to (1) identify groups in the community to bring into the process who may be most impacted by the choice of one intervention over another, and (2) target areas where further community discussion and deliberation is necessary around which community dialogues (round tables, town halls, workshops, etc.) could be facilitated.Bureau of Business Researc