DISPARITIES OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES AMONG URBAN INDUSTRIES -- AN EXPLORATORY APPROACH

The results of an on-going exploratory study focused on disparities in entrepreneurial activities across 203 Metropolitan Statistical Areas among 18 industries in the US showed that there existed variations in the path of entrepreneurial development among MSAs and different industries. Resource allocation, market, policies, and supportive organizations could lead to these variations.MSA, Entrepreneurship, urban, disparity, Gini coefficient, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

CHINA'S INTERNATIONAL TOURISM UNDER ECONOMIC TRANSITION: NATIONAL TRENDS AND REGIONAL DISPARITIES

China's Tourism industry, especially international tourism, has expanded rapidly since its market-oriented economic reform started in 1978. There has been limited information regarding the trends and regional disparities. This paper examines the national trends of China's international tourism since 1982 and analyzes the changes in regional disparities since 1995. While the trend analysis suggests that China's international tourism is likely to keep growing at a significant rate, the analysis of regional disparities based on Gini coefficient indicates that the regional inequality in the number of international tourists and income has shown a downward trend since 1995. Findings from this study suggest that China's economic reform has stimulated the growth in international tourism and the international tourism has contributed to its economic growth and business development.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Fallacies Versus Realities in Financial Planning and Management Among Entrepreneurs: Lessons from the Trenches

This paper summarizes fallacious thinking about financial planning and management among entrepreneurs and small business owners. This thinking often continues from start-up through initial liquidity and beyond and creates problems for the venture.  These problems can usually be avoided with an  understanding of  the realities associated with fallacious thinking and following  some fairly simple  "rules" enunciated by the authors.

"GREEN TAXES": IMPACTS ON NATIONAL INCOME, SOCIAL WELFARE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

Two taxation schemes were designed to be included in a multi-regional multi-sectoral General Equilibrium model for reducing the use of commercial fertilizers, with the goal of alleviating surface water pollution. Under the 500% tax rate, results showed that 0.1% of the national income was given up in order to exchange for a 3% reduction in the fertilizer application used as an intermediate input. Furthermore environmental quality would be improved by 3%, if a linear relationship existed between the changes in intermediate fertilizer use and the improvement in environmental quality.Environmental Economics and Policy,

THE IMPACT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR ON THE VERMONT ECONOMY: THE INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS

There are only few states in the United States where state income relies heavily on tourism industry, and Vermont is one of them. Vermont has the advantage in possessing spectacular landscape, clean environment, and attractive agriculturally based rural community, which provide an excellent opportunity for tourism industry development. Vermont economy also benefits from the tourists' activities because: (1) tourists contribute significant amount of income to Vermont economy, especially from ski business; (2) tourists' expenditures in Vermont become a significant source of state tax income; and (3) to sustain tourism industry in Vermont helps to preserve rural community environment as well as nature beauty in Vermont. Although tourism industry is very important to Vermont, there is limited information associated with the economic impacts from the tourism industry to Vermont economy. The objectives of this article include: (1) to quantify the economic activities of tourism-related sectors in Vermont in order to create a tourism industry; and (2) to estimate the economic impacts of the tourism industry on Vermont economy in terms of total output, Gross State Product (GSP), employment, and dependency and inter-industry linkages between tourism industry and other industries in Vermont. Three surveys have been designed to gather data for tourists' activities and expenditures: (1) a nation-wide visitor survey in order to understand the profiles and expenditures of Vermont tourists; (1) a lodging business survey to estimate total revenue and cost structures for three sizes of the lodging businesses - small, medium, and large; and (3) a ski resort survey to estimate ski total revenue and cost structure and its contribution to recreation industry in Vermont. Further analysis in tourism impacts on Vermont economy is carried out by running a input-output model using Impact analysis for PLANing (IMPLAN) software. Several interesting results are concluded from this study. For the profile of the visitors, the majority tourists coming to Vermont are domestic pleasure travelers, every visiting domestic household spends approximately $323.66 for every trip to Vermont, and 75$29,000, and finally winter average revenue for a ski area is $19 millions of dollars ($4.3 millions of dollars in summer/fall). The impacts of tourism industry on Vermont economy include: (1) tourism industry counts for 15% of the total state output value, 22% of the state employment, and 26% of the indirect business tax; (2) for every million dollars spent by tourists in Vermont - 35 jobs are created, additional 690 thousands of dollars worth output will be generated, employment compensation will increase by $540,546 dollars, and indirect business tax will increase by$127,807 dollars. It has been shown that Tourism industry contributes significantly to Vermont economy relative to Agriculture and Manufacturing industries.tourism, Vermont, Input-Output model, Visitor survey, Lodging survey, Ski Survey, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

ASSETS AND CONSTRAINTS RELATING TO THE LOCATION DECISIONS OF SMALL MANUFACTURING BUSINESSES IN VERMONT

The goal of this research is to identify the assets and constraints that exist specific to small business manufacturers in Vermont. To satisfy this goal, the study examines factors that influence location decisions as well as identifying what obstacles business owners have experienced. The idea for this project originated in response to the troubled economic condition of several Vermont communities, where unemployment rates are unusually high and income unusually low. Understanding what obstacles business faces might enable future ideas on how to solve these problems. Once assets are identified, they can be capitalized on, leading to more successful business operations. Preliminary data was collected through a telephone interview survey with Vermont small business owners. The data was analyzed in order to discover incentives and obstacles that existed for Vermont manufacturers as a whole, as well as in specific industries. Results from the survey suggested that Vermont's largest asset is that it offers an excellent quality of life. However, results alluded to several difficulties that owners are faced with, particularly complying with certain rules and regulations, obtaining adequate finances, a low-skilled workforce, and a weak communication network for small businesses.community development, small business, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

INTERDEPENDENCE OF AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM: QUANTIFYING THE VALUE OF THE AGRICULTURAL WORKING LANDSCAPE IN VERMONT

This study evaluates the impact of the agricultural working landscape on the Vermont tourist industry and state economy. Vermont is known for its scenery, especially its agricultural landscape. It has often been stated that Vermont's tourist industry, which represents 15% of the state's economy, depends upon this special landscape for its comparative advantage in the New England tourism market. However, Vermont's landscape is changing. The number of farms and acres of farmland have decreased significantly in the past several decades. State policy makers are grappling with the challenge of supporting and preserving both the farm and tourist economies in the face of regional and global competition. This study quantifies the impact of the agricultural working landscape on tourist demand in Vermont. Primary data were gathered through a survey of visitors to Vermont to determine how the disappearance of the agricultural landscape would affect their willingness to visit the state. Findings indicate that 84% of respondents value the agricultural landscape of Vermont and 58.5% of the respondents would be less likely to visit Vermont if there were very few farms. Knowing the level of this impact will help policy makers decide how much to invest in the preservation of farmland and marketing of farm visits and eco-tourism.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Researching Market and Supply-Chain Opportunities for Local Foods Systems: Setting Priorities and Identifying Linkages

There is an increasing array of land-grant, nonprofit, and other academic programs intended to support the development of food system enterprises and programs. However, research to track consumers\u27 evolving preferences and behaviors within these systems and to measure the intended policy outcomes of any public investments in these systems is lagging. This research commentary represents a compilation of opinions and insights from those who are interested in exploring research priorities for economic, marketing, and supply-chain aspects of local food systems. The priorities that emerge are framed in the following way: (1) opportunities for increased and more targeted research to help identify gaps in the literature; (2) areas where current localized research projects could be leveraged and scaled up to the national level; and (3) innovative projects and partnerships that are evolving to bridge both knowledge and systems gaps

Environmental policies and United States agriculture: An application of general equilibrium model

Agriculture is one of the major sources of water quality impairment, and chemical fertilizer causes most of the surface water contamination. The purpose of this thesis is to design two fertilizer tax systems (Uniform Tax vs Differentiated Tax) embodied in a Computable General Equilibrium model, and to access impacts of the tax on US economy. All markets are assumed to be perfectly competitive, and there is no substitution between agricultural factors and non-agricultural factors in production. When the general fertilizer tax is 500% (i.e. to raise the price of the fertilizer six times as high as the base year), prices of the Food Grains and Feed Grains increase by about 14% compared to the base year, and outputs of the Food Grains and Feed Grains drop by about 23% compared to the base year. Demand and supply for the Food Grains and Feed Grains reduce significantly. Changes in prices and quantities in non-agricultural sectors are not significant. Compared to the base year, fertilizer price rises to 5.4854 when the general tax rate is 500%. Domestic output of fertilizer drops by 6.46%, domestic sales for fertilizer drops by 4.92%, and export of fertilizer decreases by 17.78%. However, more fertilizer is used as intermediate input when the tax is added to its price. In the base year, 82% of the fertilizer produced is used as intermediate input. When the general tax rate is 500%, 85% of the fertilizer produced is used as intermediate input. Since the reduction in fertilizer use is not significant even when the tax rate is 500%, to impose the fertilizer tax might not be an effective instrument to improve water quality in a short run