Economic Development Of Rural Communities Research Articles

The Participation of npos in the Economic Development of Rural Communities in China: A Review of the Existing Literature

This article reviews literature of the last ten years on the participation of nonprofit organizations (npos) in the economic development of Chinese rural communities. The article starts by illustrating the significant role of npos in the economic development of Chinese rural communities, and summarizing three ways of npos’ participation: mobilizing farmers to establish and join mutual aid organizations; providing farmers with market information services; providing farmers with technological services. The existing literature investigates the positive role of npos in the economic development of Chinese rural communities from three theoretical perspectives: “social capital,” “collective action,” and “community-driven development.” However, in reality, unlike in theory, npos do not always play a positive role. They are faced with challenges in such areas as sound internal governance, professional external services, institutional environment, social cognition and financing environment. These issues are mentioned in some literature, but have not attracted enough theoretical attention. The existing literature is mainly based on theorization, and empirical studies are relatively insufficient.

The economic value of organic dairy farms in Vermont and Minnesota

This study quantifies the overall economic values of organic dairy farms in Vermont and Minnesota and estimates the economic impacts of organic dairy farm sales relative to an equivalent level of sales from conventional dairy farms in those states. This question is of interest because the development of the organic dairy sector has allowed some farms that likely would not have remained in the conventional dairy business to continue being economically viable as organic dairy farms. Thus, these sales provide an economic impact in regions when this milk is exported to nonproducing regions. Organic and conventional dairy farm financial data in Vermont and Minnesota were collected and assembled to develop dairy farm production functions by region and dairy type. These production functions were then used in state-level input-output models to calculate economic impacts. The opportunity costs of organic dairy farm production were also estimated by comparing the relative statewide economic impacts of organic and conventional dairy farms if both experience a hypothetical 5-million-dollar increase in sales. Between 2008 and 2010, Vermont’s 180 organic dairy farms annually contributed $76.3 million in output (the value of an industry’s production within the state), 808 jobs, $34.1 million in gross state product, and $26.3 million in labor income to Vermont’s economy. Between 2009 and 2011, Minnesota’s 114 organic dairy farms annually contributed $77.7 million in output, 552 jobs, $32.1 million in gross state product, and $21 million in labor income to Minnesota’s economy. In Vermont, organic dairy farm sales revenue would result in greater state-wide impacts of 3% in output, 39% in labor income, 33% in gross state product, and 46% in employment relative to the impacts from an equivalent level of sales revenue to conventional dairy farms. In Minnesota, these economic impacts are 4, 9, 11, and 12% greater, respectively, for organic dairy farms relative to conventional dairy farms. This study concludes that organic dairy farms may contribute more to the local economy than average and similar-size conventional dairy farms in the Northeast and Upper Midwest and that organic dairy farm milk production supports economic development in rural communities.

Road to Community Sustainability: Development of Community-based Housing for Rural Elderly

Community-based housing is widely recognized as one unique mode of affordable housing provision discussed in the agenda of urban housing policy in the midst of global economy. While economic development of rural communities are severely blocked by many factors, the local housing needs at grass roots level are addressed in the response to the growing number of the elderly and shortage of adequate housing to accommodate the group, and the availability of affordable housing is primarily seen as a viable option to the sustainability of rural community. This research study is to examine the case study of community-based housing development in rural areas, and to explore the drives and hurdles that influence the success of each development. The on-site visits and in-depth interviews with community leaders were employed to meet the research goals. The findings show that the driving factors making the successful housing development include the firm commitment to the importance of affordable and adequate housing, strong leadership of community leaders, public support, well-advised dispersion of public resources and strong bond between the public sector and local people. In spite of all the contributing factors, the unfamiliarity of collective ownership is the leading hurdle to proceed the development in a timely manner.

Business Networks and Economic Development in Rural Communities in the United States

Many rural communities in the United States are economically depressed. However, while poor rural communities are geographically isolated and small, they are likely to be rich in social capital. We first argue that the nature of the social capital in such communities can either facilitate or constrain the development of business networks among entrepreneurs. We then explain the community–level conditions that might increase the probability of business network effectiveness. The primary opportunities that such networks can exploit and their potential spillover effects on economic development are also identified. Finally, we provide directions for research that can contribute to better public policy decisions.

Appreciative Inquiry and Rural Tourism: A Case Study from Canada

Many Canadian, resource-based communities are facing an economic crisis and often turn to tourism for economic diversification and some recent trends in the growth of tourism employment in Canada's rural areas suggest that such choices are well founded. Despite positive growth indicators, rural tourism is criticized for several reasons, including issues with employment, ownership and lack of understanding of the industry. Although much has been written on the development of community-based tourism and its potential to address such concerns, much of the discussion remains at theoretical levels, with few examinations of practical frameworks for rural communities in crisis, such as the current experience in North-western Ontario, Canada. Enquiries into tourism's contribution to rural community economic development identified two gaps concerning how rural tourism can be a viable industry in resource-dependent communities and how to embed the industry within a community seeking alternatives from a deficit/crisis context. Interviews with a tourism operator in rural Manitoba, Canada seemed to provide an answer to both of these questions, through the application of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) to rural tourism development. Such an examination indicates that although such an approach does not solve the issues, it does provide a new lens through which to understand the potential for tourism in rural communities.

Economic Development Prospects of Forest‐Dependent Communities: Analyzing Trade‐offs Using a Compromise‐Fuzzy Programming Framework

AbstractMany aboriginal communities look to forest resources for short‐ and long‐term employment, adequate timber for mills, an even flow of wood fiber for community stability, and financial returns for economic diversification. We address these conflicting objectives using multiple‐objective programming. We show how compromise programming can be used to set bounds on fuzzy membership functions, and illustrate the difference between crisp and fuzzy weighting of objectives. Economic development outcomes obtained using compromise and fuzzy programming greatly improve upon those associated with the even‐flow of timber rule of thumb. Yet, timber extraction is an inadequate driver of economic development in rural communities.

A citizen‐led program for rural community economic development: Two case studies

The Citizen‐Led Economic Development Project facilitates a leadership role in rural economic development for people with disabilities and agencies that serve them. If people with disabilities and human service agencies are involved in economic development activities, it is anticipated that local decision‐making will better address their interests. Using Project guidelines, people with disabilities lead a community economic assessment using “import substitution” and “value‐added” economic development strategies. Human service agencies use recommendations from the community assessment to build linkages with local economic development leaders and stakeholders. This paper describes the first two implementations of the Citizen Led Economic Development Project in Eastern Utah and Northeastern Vermont.

A Model Food Entrepreneur Assistance and Education Program: The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship

ABSTRACT: The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship (NECFE) is a collaborative effort between Cornell Univ. and the Univ. of Vermont. NECFE uses a multi-institutional and regional collaboration approach, with specific expertise and necessary facilities and resources, to provide technical assistance and education for businesses in the food industry. The overall goals of NECFE are to support and sustain rural businesses and promote sustainable economic development of rural communities. Through process evaluation techniques, the evaluators of NECFE identified 5 essential components of a model food entrepreneurship assistance and education center, based on NECFE's experience: (1) multi-institutional and regional collaboration, (2) expertise, (3) facilities and resources, (4) services, and (5) evaluation of the center. These components build on each other and enable NECFE to provide clients with access to current food processing technology, technical information, and education that are directly applicable to a real business. Through replication of this model, other organizations and academic institutions may establish a regional food entrepreneurship assistance and education center.

Rural Community Economic Development Organizations, ICTs and Cultural Change

Rural Community Economic Development Organizations, ICTs and Cultural Change

Local Entrepreneurship: A Development Model Based on Community Interaction Field Theory

Local entrepreneurship shows great potential as an economic development strategy for rural communities with stagnating or declining economies. However, nascent entrepreneurs often lack knowledge of ways to actualize their ideas, and communities often lack the social infrastructure to help entrepreneurs achieve success. Educational programs supporting entrepreneurship can play a vital role in rural community economic development. The Nebraska Enhancing, Developing and Growing Entrepreneurs (EDGE) educational program is community based, with organizing principles derived primarily from community interaction field theory. More than 1,600 nascent and active entrepreneurs have participated in EDGE since 1993. The authors draw on community interaction field theory and eight community case studies to explore an action model for delivery of an educational program of locality-based entrepreneurship. The EDGE model has implications for the delivery of long-range community development programs.

Rethinking Traditional Approaches to Low-Volume Road Provision in Developing Countries

Low-volume roads (LVRs) constitute an integral component of the road system in all developing countries, where their importance extends to all aspects of the social and economic development of rural communities. However, the original documentation relating to the provision of such roads is based in many respects on technology and research carried out in Europe and the United States some 30 to 40 years ago in environments very different from those prevailing in developing countries. As a result, these traditional approaches are often inappropriate for application in developing countries. Moreover, they tend to focus on the technical environment of road provision, with inadequate consideration of other interrelated environments that critically influence the types of LVRs that should be provided. As a result, a need for new, more holistic approaches to low-volume road provision has been engendered to satisfy the various needs of rural communities in a more sustainable manner. The objective of this discussion is to provide an insight into new, more holistic and sustainable approaches to the provision of LVRs in developing countries. Embodied in these new approaches is a need to rethink the old ways of providing such roads based on research and development work that has been carried out in these countries during the past 20 years. Examples include aspects of planning and project appraisal, geometric and pavement design, construction and drainage, and environmental issues, all of which need to be reconsidered in a more appropriate manner.

Who Gets the Work? National Forest Contracting in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract Since the decline of federal timber harvests in the Pacific Northwest, forest community organizations and the USDA Forest Service have been trying to use federal service and construction contracting to foster economic development in rural communities. This study analyzes the Forest Service silviculture and restoration contracts let during FY 1998 and 1999 in Oregon and Washington to determine who wins this contract work. The study measures the distance between national forests and contractor offices and finds that contract value, work characteristics, and geographic variables partially explain variation in distance.

Rural self-reliance strategies in South Africa: community initiatives and external support in the former black homelands

This paper examines the relevance of the concept of self-reliance in the context of rural community economic development in South Africa. Whilst changing global and local circumstances oblige impoverished communities to become more pro-active in the enhancement of the quality of their lives, they nevertheless cannot ignore basic market forces and the need for an appropriate level of external assistance. Four community-based agricultural ventures in South Africa's former Homelands are examined. A comparison between the four schemes permits an assessment to be made of what such community ventures require if they are to succeed and have a meaningful impact on job creation and poverty alleviation. The role of external support agencies and access to markets in each case features prominently in the assessment.

Field trials of appropriate hydraulic flocculation processes

Hydraulic flocculation has been used for water treatment throughout the world for many years and is particularly well suited for developing countries. Two types of flocculator are described, a horizontal-flow channel system, for which aspects such as retention time, channel slope, rapid mixing methods and baffle insertion were assessed and a contact flocculation-filter (CFF). Pilot plant tests were carried out over two years at Thyolo Water Treatment Works in Malawi using river water with crushed seed kernels from the indigenous tree Moringa oleifera Lam. ( M. oleifera) or aluminium sulphate as coagulant. Both flocculation systems were able to reduce turbidity to below the World Health Organisation's guideline value of 5 NTU for drinking water from raw water with average turbidities during test runs ranging from 15–5600 NTU. The CFF method was particularly effective at low turbidities where <1 NTU was attained at low dosages (<25 mg/l) of M. oleifera. “Flash” mixing of coagulant using a simple equivalent of an in-line vortex mixer was shown to give more efficient treatment than mixing by alternative methods. M. oleifera as coagulant is shown to be feasible for treating river water for communities up to small town size and its production close to treatment plants would obviate importation of chemicals thus saving on foreign exchange, provide economic development of rural communities and reduce potential health hazards from chemical overdosing.

Effects of Local Versus Absentee Telephone Company Ownership on Participation in Rural Community Economic Development

Acceleration of the Information Age has heightened the importance of telecommunicationsservices in the economic vitality of rural communities. The local telephone service provider is akey actor in the community's economic development activities, but telephone companyinvolvement in economic development varies significantly across communities. This articlefocuses on the effects of local ownership versus absentee ownership of telephone companies ontheir participation in local community economic development. Data from a study of communityeconomic development professionals in Iowa indicate a positive relationship between localtelephone company ownership and involvement with economic development efforts. Buildingupon the community of limited liability concept, it was found that the nature of local investmentsaffects participation in economic development. Implications of the results are discussed in thecontext of ongoing structural changes in the telecommunications industry.

Rural tourism as a factor in rural community economic development for economies in transition

This paper examines how community resources can be mobilised to help rural communities make the transition from agrarian to diversified and sustainable economies. It discusses the concept of the Global Management Approach used by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Europe, and shows how this approach can be used to develop sustainable rural tourism, paying close attention to implementation issues.

BOOK REVIEWS

Abstract A Focus on Economic Development: Creating an Economic Development Action Plan: A Guide for Development Professionals Thomas S. Lyons and Roger E. Hamlin. Praeger, New York, 1991.207 pp. $39.95. A Focus on Economic Development: Competitive Manufacturing: New Strategies for Regional Development Stuart A. Rosenfeld. Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1992. 400 pp. $39.95. A Focus on Economic Development: Rural Community Economic Development Norman Walzer, editor. Praeger, New York, 1991. 187 pp. $49.95. A Focus on Economic Development: The United States in the Global Economy: Challenges and Policy Choices John Accordino. American Library Association, Chicago, 1992. 329 pp. $38.00 (paperback). A Focus on Economic Development: Challenging Uneven Development: An Urban Agenda for the 1990s Philip W. Nyden and Wim Wiewel, editors. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ, 1991. 233 pp. $40.00, $15.00 (paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion Anthony Downs. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, Cambridge, MA, 1992. 210 pp. $28.95, $10.95 (paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: Cleveland: A Concise History, 1796-1990 Carol Poh Miller and Robert Wheeler. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1990. 190 pp. ($10.95 paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: America at Century's End Alan Wolfe, editor. University of California Press, Berkeley, 1991.579 pp. $29.95. Planning and Its Subfields: The Appalachian Regional Commission: Twenty-Five Years of Government Policy Michael Bradshaw. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, 1992. 168 pp. $21.00. Planning and Its Subfields: Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit Albert Gore. Houghton Miflin, Boston, 1992. 407 pp. $22.95. Planning and Its Subfields: Political Crisis, Fiscal Crisis: The Collapse and Revival of New York City Martin Shefter. Columbia University Press, New York, 1992. $45.00, $13.50 (paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: Unequal Burden: Economic Crises, Persistent Poverty, and Women's Work Lourdes Beneria and Shelly Feldman, editors. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1992. 278 pages. $42.00, $15.95 (paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: Imagined Country: Society, Culture and Environment John Rennie Short. Routledge, New York, 1991.253 pp. $69.95, $18.95 (paperback). Planning and Its Subfields: A Place in History: Social and Monumental Time in a Cretan Town Michael Herzfeld. Princeton University Press, NJ, 1991. 305 pp. $16.95 (paperback). Briefly Noted: Sustainable Cities: Concepts and Strategies for Eco-City Development Bob Walter, Lois Arkin, Richard Crenshaw, editors. Eco-Home Media, Los Angeles, CA, 1992. 354 pp. $20.00. Briefly Noted: Essential Industry and the NIMBY Phenomenon Denis J. Brion. Quorum Books, New York, 1991. 220 pp. $49.95.

Economic Development in Rural Communities: Can Strategic Planning Make a Difference?

Economic Development in Rural Communities: Can Strategic Planning Make a Difference?

BOOK REVIEWS

Rosenfeld, Stuart, Shapira, Philip and Williams, J. Trent. Smart Firms in Small Towns. (Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute, 1992, 93 pp.), paper, $5.00. Reviewed by Michael A. Trueblood and Paul E. McNamara. Hummon, David M. COMMONPLACES: Community Ideology and Identity in American Culture. (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1990, 236 pp.), paper, $19.95. Reviewed by Bruce W. McKay. Walzer, Norman (ed.), Rural Community Economic Development. (New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1991, 216 pp.), cloth, $49.95. Reviewed by Robert Blair.

Service Employment and Rural Community Economic Development

When rural community economic development strategies are concerned with expanding employment opportunities, service industries are a prime consideration since they have been the source of most employment growth since the mid-1970s. This paper addresses two interrelated questions about rural service industries. First, are there significant rural-urban differences in service industry composition? Second, what are the basic income sources associated with service employment concentration in rural areas? An analysis of 382 labor market areas in the contiguous United States indicates that rural service concentration is most pronounced in social services and that agerelated income from nonwork sources is associated with rural service concentration. The implications for rural community economic development strategies are discussed in terms of capturing more income locally and attracting additional residents.