Examining the role of entrepreneurship in economic development in Appalachia

Increasing uncertainty in the world economy has created challenges for regions to pursue development strategies to achieve economic growth. Globalization, increased marketing integration, and the advent of new technologies led to approaches from traditional industrial recruiting to less traditional approaches. Among these latter approaches is the increased importance of entrepreneurship for creating economic growth through establishment of new firms or growth from established firms. Exploring the characteristics of entrepreneurship and its contributions to the local economy can help develop a map for designing specific development policies for Appalachia.;The main objective of the study is to determine the relationship between regional growth and entrepreneurship. To examine the role of entrepreneurship in economic growth, this study used a regional economic growth model using a system of simultaneous equations. Data on 410 counties of Appalachia is employed where measures of entrepreneurial activity are constructed and regressed against measures of economic growth. The simultaneous equation model is used where the dynamics of population growth, employment growth, and per capita income growth is utilized to determine how regional factors affect patterns of growth. The focus is how entrepreneurial factors influence growth in population, employment, and per capita income. Entrepreneurship variables are constructed from proprietorship and firm births and deaths data. In addition, quality of human capital, agglomeration, poverty, infrastructure, natural amenities, government expenditures, crime, and taxes are used in estimating the models. The growth model is specified as a three- and a four-equation model regressed using ordinary least squares (OLS) and two-stage least squares (2-SLS) regressions. The three-equation growth model is empirically estimated using the methods of two-stage least squares (2-SLS) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions. Simultaneous equations are estimated using 2-SLS to account for the endogeneity issue in variables used as both dependent and explanatory variables. These variables include the measures of growth and the constructed entrepreneurship index in the four-equation model.;The results of estimating the change in population equation show that employment growth positively affects population growth. Considering entrepreneurship, firm births and population growth are positively related. In addition, firm death is found to negatively affect change in population. While population density and quality of infrastructure increase county population, percentage of families below poverty level, education, and the initial value of population have negative effects towards population growth. The empirical results in estimating the change in employment equation in both three and four-equation models indicate that growth in population is positively related with employment growth. Therefore, the study further supports the jobs follow people and people follow jobs theory. Results also show that employment growth and per capita income growth are positively related. Self-employment and firm births are found to have positive effects in determining increases in county employment. Firm death is found to negatively affect employment which further supports the theory on the role of entrepreneurship in increasing job creation. Crime rate is also found to reduce job creation. However, both estimation methods indicate negative relationships between natural amenities ranking and employment growth which is in contrast to the hypothesis. Furthermore, per capita taxes show positive effects in county employment growth. OLS results also show a positive effect of population density and negative effects of property taxes and the share of population 35 to 64 years old towards employment growth.;Empirical results in estimating the per capita income equation show that population growth negatively affects increases in per capita income. The initial value of per capita income is found to be positive in determining per capita income growth in all three estimations. Further, the estimation indicates a negative relationship between growth in firm deaths and per capita income growth. The OLS estimation revealed that increases in the number of self-employed and increases in per capita income are related. The lagged value of per capita income growth is positive in relation to per capita income growth in all three estimations. In addition, the hypothesis on the positive effects of education in increasing income is supported in all three estimations. While the results show positive relationships between the share of population 35 to 64 years old and per capita income growth, negative relationships exist between state road density and change in per capita income. The estimation of the entrepreneurship equation in the four-equation model shows significant relationships with all the other endogenous variables. However, a positive association is observed only between the employment growth and the growth in entrepreneurial activity.;The study recommends supporting the creation of an entrepreneurial environment to encourage entrepreneurial activity as a strategy to increase employment. Furthermore, supporting existing entrepreneurs and avoiding firm deaths may help in achieving economic growth. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

LAND TENURE AND SOCIOECONOMIC INTERACTIONS

The study analyzed the determinants of land tenure insecurity in Uganda using survey data collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) during the Policies for Improved Land Management Project in Uganda, 1999-2001. The survey included a sample of 1322 farm households randomly selected and interviewed using a formal questionnaire. The analysis revealed that tenure category, number of households in the village involved in disputes outside the village, and the number of households in the village who lost land as a result of a dispute over land were significant factors affecting tenure insecurity.Land Economics/Use,

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE LINK BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN WEST VIRGINIA

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Valuing Community Attributes in Rural Counties in West Virginia: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis

The study used Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to examine community attributes of rural counties in West Virginia using variables determining quality of life. This analysis was done to understand the value of the social and economic characteristics associated with different communities as migration patterns in the US are mostly attributed to community characteristics determining the residents’ valuation of the quality of life in an area. County level data was used to identify counties that are inefficient, measured in terms of socioeconomic factors. The data is composed of output variables representing desirable community attributes and input variables representing the undesirable characteristics. Analysis was done by using Data Envelopment Analysis to calculate efficiency scores among rural counties in the State as quantitative measures of the efficient production of quality of life within communities. The results show that the majority of the rural counties in the State lie on the efficiency frontier, while others are classified to be inefficient. The research findings are of interest to policy makers as indicators of community performance which can be used for evaluating counties in terms of quality of life

A County-Level Assessment of Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth in Appalachia using Simultaneous Equations

This study provides evidence of the contribution of entrepreneurship to economic development in Appalachia. Using data on Appalachian counties, a system of simultaneous equations is empirically estimated to measure the effects of entrepreneurship on economic growth and development. We present an expanded Carlino-Mills growth model using changes in population, employment, and per capita income to represent growth. The goal of the investigation is to increase the understanding of entrepreneurship’s contributions to economic growth, and its potential as a development strategy for a region, such as Appalachia, that is characterized by poverty and underdevelopment. The results show that start-up businesses contribute significantly to determining population growth. Employment growth is positively affected by selfemployment rates as well as by firm formation rates

Using an Approach-Avoidance Framework to Understand the Relationship between Non-Lethal Weapons and Performance

It is proposed that performance degradation from exposure to non-lethal technology is mediated by impulsive and reflective approachavoidance motivation. An approach-avoidance motivational framework was used to specify a four-stage information processing model that predicts performance degradation. The first stage is Evaluation: it processes physiological, sensory, perceptual, and cognitive information. The second stage is Comparison: it processes the content of the Evaluation into avoidance and approach motivational indices. The third stage is Probability: it processes information from previous stages into a probability of choosing to continue or abandon goal-directed behavior. Finally, the fourth stage is Performance: it processes performance accuracy on a given task and occurs only when people continue their goal after dissuasive technology exposure. Depending on previous stages, performance can be degraded on tasks relevant to goal completion. An experiment was used to validate the model. Results supported the hypothesis that information is processed using the approach-avoidance motivational framework

Aprendizaje instrumentado en un entorno de aprendizaje habilitado para CODAP

III Congreso Internacional Virtual de Educación Estadística (CIVEEST), 21-24 febrero de 2019. [www.ugr.es/local/fqm126/civeest.html]In this study, we examined how seventh grade students used CODAP as a tool to make sense of roller coaster data while engaged in exploratory data analysis. Using instrumentation theory, we investigated their instrumentation approaches and examined the types of instrumental orchestration that emerged during whole class discussions.En este estudio, examinamos cómo los estudiantes de séptimo grado utilizaron el CODAP como una herramienta para dar sentido a los datos de la montaña rusa mientras participan en el análisis exploratorio de datos. Usando la teoría de la instrumentación, investigamos sus enfoques de instrumentación y examinamos los tipos de orquestación instrumental que surgieron durante las discusiones de toda la clase