Community Wealth Research Articles

Indirect Correlates of Municipal Unrestricted Net Assets

Governments' net assets balances are viewed as a measure of fiscal health and have been linked to municipal credit ratings. This study explores the extent to which ambient socioeconomic factors are captured in aggregated restricted and unrestricted net assets balances (termed net assets) to understand why such balances are relevant to credit analysts and others. We model liquid net assets balances using observable non-accounting factors (e.g., unemployment rates) to learn whether they reflect such influences. We use panel data for fiscal years 2007-2011 so our results comprehend effects of recent economic fluctuations. We find that liquid net assets balances impound a rich array of influences, bearing a positive association with the mayor-council form of government, community wealth, the incidence of property crimes, and increases in governments’ business-type net assets. Liquid net assets balances bear a negative association with liabilities for postemployment benefits, unemployment, and violent crime. The results indicate that net assets balances capture noteworthy debt burden, administrative, and socioeconomic influences and, as such, have meaning beyond their basic accounting interpretation.

A multilevel analysis of late entry in Nigeria

This paper explores how factors operating at the state and community levels are associated with the prevalence of late school enrolment in Nigeria. We investigate the following three research themes. First, whether late entry varies across states and across communities and how much of this variation can be explained by the composition of communities and states. Second, whether community wealth and state wealth are stronger predictors of late entry than household wealth. Third, whether wealth has different effects on the probability of late school entry in different states and in different communities within states. Using the 2010 Nigeria Education Data Survey, and a three-level multilevel logit model, we show that a substantial proportion of the variation in late school entry is explained by community- and state-level factors. We further find that children living in specific communities in Nigeria may face a double disadvantage in terms of on-time school enrolment. In these communities, not only is there a large proportion of children entering school late, but also household wealth has strong effects on the probability that a child is sent to school on on time. These communities could be targeted for educational interventions aimed at promoting on-time school enrolment.

Infant Mortality in Uruguay: The Effect of Socioeconomic Status on Survival

This paper analyzes infant mortality in a unique and highly-detailed data set from Uruguay. A duration model is employed to estimate the relationships between infant mortality and socioeconomic status at the individual, household, and community level. Our results indicate that the most important predictors of infant survival in the first year of life are a full gestational period, mother’s educational attainment, marital status (a proxy for family wealth), and the type of hospital used for delivery. We also find that the region where the mother resides (a proxy for community wealth), whether or not the delivery was a multiple delivery, and the gender of the infant are strong predictors of infant mortality in Uruguay. In light of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the results presented in this paper suggest that policies designed to increase women’s education and to decrease out-of-wedlock births can substantially improve infant health in less-developed countries.

Public Health and Local Comprehensive Plan; Socio-Physical, Political and Multi-Sectoral Context

This research investigates factors affecting local governments to include public health objectives in their local comprehensive plans. Based on the governance of healthy city, our theoretical model admits that the local comprehensive plan should be a holistic approach to public health. Our analytical model takes into account local politics, intersectoral collaboration and socio-physical variables. The findings suggest that local governments are more likely to adopt health as a goal based on the degree of community wealth, population growth, and population density, . On the other hand, the degree to which local governments attain the collaboration within organizations (health and planning) and local policies expands the scope of public health provisions in comprehensive plans. While socio-physical conditions and intersectoral collaboration have a significant relationship with the inclusion of health in comprehensive plan, local politics does not.

Community-Based Asset Building and Community Wealth

The author traces involvement in the wealth inequality movement since 1999 and the frustrations with realistically addressing wealth inequality and racial wealth gaps. This paper outlines the journey from understanding the importance of wealth in African American and other communities, to addressing collective structures for accumulating assets and wealth for low-income people of color. The author explores the role cooperatives play in creating community and collective wealth, and proposes alternatives to the mainstream savings strategies usually proposed.

Egyptian Research for Agriculture Rural Development Today

Research is a major factor for increasing wealth and human development including the discovery of numerous and new applied agronomic practices. For Egypt, due to the fact that the country has experienced new paths in achieving the human development needs by promoting new agricultural technologies and techniques in field as food producing and processing, diversification of livestock production, agricultural production and plant protection in order both to maximize the revenues and improve the live standard of living for inland population. Taking into account that the livestock and agricultural production represents a proper way of improving the rural community's wealth and cohesion, the evolution of agricultural research for rural development is a greater step in developing the inland economy. The paper main topic is to present the present evolution of the Egyptian research in agriculture and rural development from a complex point of view, taking into account the social, political and economical aspects as population growth, poverty and sustainable human development.

Reading Ancient Reliefs: An Approach to Interperation of Architectural Decoration in Historical and Political Context

Ancient treasuries promoted wealth and prosperity of the donation community. Preserved relief scenes portrayed mythological stories used for expressing certain characteristic reflection of reality (chaos, wilderness, heroism, etc.) By analyzing historical sources is possible to assign events related to the poleis in historical context. This paper shall serve as introduction of hypothetical nature of political program and contribution to the knowledge of political promotion of polis in relief decoration. Figural decoration became a form of political program, or even metaphorical ideology. The main carrier of ideological reference were figure decorated pediments and friezes. Those visualized political agenda of polis even for illiterate observers. In particular mythological stories, those that might have some ideological scheme, were preferred. They can be applied to current events of polis, but only if adequate historical sources or archaeological evidence. Mythological battles were frequent motifs. The story of Gigantomachy allowed various kind of exploitation in political ideology. The main idea was the battle between world full of chaos and world representing stability and certainty. Analogies are identifiable in the whole archaic period. The main inspiration were military confrontations with other Greek or non-Greek cities. From preserved decorative elements is possible to roughly characterize also political significance of mythological heroes. Visual display is closely related to foreign policy and inner political conflict of poleis. It is important that preserved reliefs with motives that do not deal with panhellenic scenes are lessnumerous.

Shared measures to achieve shared outcomes: lessons from Central Appalachia

This paper introduces a wealth creation approach to development, and describes how the Central Appalachian Network has used an outcome-based measurement process to define and measure progress toward shared goals for seven forms of community wealth. The wealth creation approach to measurement leads to measures of outcome, not outputs, that have meaning within the context of the work of individual organizations and the network overall. Measurement applied consistently across a network of independent organizations seeking to build wealth creation value chains creates shared language and understanding, and improves capacity to target resources where they can have the greatest impact to create constructive change in their region and communities.

Tax Levy Financing for Local Public Health

Local health departments (LHDs) rely on a wide variety of funding sources, and the level of financing is associated with both LHD performance in essential public health services and population health outcomes. Although it has been shown that funding sources vary across LHDs, there is no evidence regarding the relationship between fiscal allocation (local tax levy); fiscal effort (tax capacity); and fiscal capacity (community wealth). The purpose of this study is to analyze local tax levy support for LHD funding. Three research questions are addressed: (1) What are tax levy trends in LHD fiscal allocation? (2) What is the role of tax levy in overall LHD financing? and (3) How do local community fiscal capacity and fiscal effort relate to LHD tax levy fiscal allocation? This study focuses on 74 LHDs eligible for local tax levy funding in Minnesota. Funding and expenditure data for 5 years (2006 to 2010) were compiled from four governmental databases, including the Minnesota Department of Health, the State Auditor, the State Demographer, and the Metropolitan Council. Trends in various funding sources and expenditures are described for the time frame of interest. Data were analyzed in 2012. During the 2006-2010 time period, total average LHD per capita expenditures increased 13%, from $50.98 to $57.63. Although the overall tax levy increase in Minnesota was 25%, the local tax levy for public health increased 5.6% during the same period. There is a direct relationship between fiscal effort and LHD expenditures. Local funding reflects LHD community priorities and the relative importance in comparison to funding other local programs with tax dollars. In Minnesota, local tax levy support for local public health services is not keeping pace with local tax support for other local government services. These results raise important questions about the relationship between tax levy resource effort, resource allocation, and fiscal capacity as they relate to public health spending in local communities.

Democratizing Wealth, Democratizing Power

Democratizing Wealth, Democratizing Power

Returns to Capital:

Returns to Capital:

Building Bridges: Constructing Social Enterprise Curriculum in the Humanities

Creating an innovative suite of courses within the Bachelor of Arts has required the development of a complex pedagogy, particularly when the needs of the context require an interdisciplinary approach. This paper, which utilises reflection on practice as its methodology, explores the Social Enterprise core stream which has been a significant element of study since 2008. While the paper deals with some of the particular circumstances of introducing practice learning to traditional theoretical disciplines, it is most concerned with the pedagogical strength of combining inquiry based learning with problem based learning, to lead to work integrated learning, and developing reflective practice to integrate all. Since 2008, the School of Humanities at Griffith University has incorporated a Social Enterprise signature experience into the Bachelor of Arts. Broadly, social enterprises are distinguished by their pursuit of community wealth in the marketplace to pursue their aims. They pursue a triple bottom line of social, economic and environmental prosperity. Griffith University is located in South East Queensland, Australia and is well regarded as both a research university and for its development of highly innovative programmes. Approximately 40, 000 students are enrolled over five campuses. In the Bachelor of Arts, we also use the verb form, 'socially enterprising' to invite our students to be innovative, creative and empowered, regardless of the economic sector where they find employment. Thus our work at Griffith University is underpinned by a pedagogical ethic and imperative to excite our students about their own prospects for being a part of change, based on a thorough and ongoing engagement with people and organisations in the 'real world' who are already moving and shaking. This has meant that a curriculum has had to be developed which both presents the underlying issues and the third sector approaches and interpolates these studies into a multi-disciplinary context. This signature experience consists of six semester-long units, presented sequentially, and includes a third year professional placement in the Third Sector. The final semester capstone subject enables students to both reflect upon their experience of the degree and to plan and manage a showcase event. The first year units focus upon the development of communication and critical thinking skills, and the introduction of critical issues relevant to the Third Sector such as human rights and social justice. Alongside an initial exploration of the history and practice of the Third Sector, these first year courses are designed to incite a broader awareness of the reason for choosing a life that contributes to the wider community. The second year units are concerned with the consolidation of an ethical foundation and developing skills required in the workplace in this field.

FÓRMULAS COOPERATIVAS Y REDES EN TURISMO. APLICACIÓN Y POTENCIAL EN ANDALUCÍA

The formulas cooperatives and networks have relevance to tourism, as this is a phenomenon inherently reticular. The paper identifies formulas networks and cooperatives in tourism, especially those developed in Andalusia. First, from the perspective of spatial planning and tourism. It then focuses on an analysis of economic and tourism clusters. There is a statistical correlation between wealth and tourism competitiveness clusters of Spanish autonomous communities, Monitur measures. Finally we propose a model of tourism clusters and applied in Andalusia. It is conceived as a model-network, which seeks to maximize collaborative relationships between tourism and clusters present in each destination.

Disentangling the relation between wealth and contraceptive use in India: a multilevel probit regression approach

This paper discusses the poverty-wealth impact on contraceptive use both at individual and community levels. A multilevel probit regression framework was set up to explain the use of contraceptive methods. We use data from the Indian 2005–06 National Family Health Survey (NFHS). It contains data on both the socio-demographic and health characteristics of Indian women, as well as an assembled measure of household wealth: the wealth index. The individual-level model confirms the association between contraceptive use and wealth. When controlling the community level, i.e. where the women live, the multilevel regression results show it has a significant effect on contraceptive use, explaining 19 % of the total variance. Finally, decomposing the wealth index at individual and community levels (average community wealth; individual centered wealth values), the effect of the community poverty-wealth level is significant and positive. To sum up, this framework of nested models reveals the significant effect of the community’s poverty-wealth dimension on each woman’s decision about contraception and suggests that the longstanding urban-rural differential in the contraceptive prevalence is mainly poverty-wealth driven.

Tax Levy Financing for Local Public Health: Relationships between Fiscal Allocation, Fiscal Effort and Fiscal Capacity

This study examines property tax levy (local tax levy) as a source of local health department (LHD) funding during a five year period (2006-2010) in all Minnesota counties by assessing fiscal effort, fiscal allocation and fiscal capacity. Local health departments rely on pluralistic funding from local, state, federal and private sources. However, local tax levy funding is unexplored and little is known regarding the extent of fiscal allocation (tax levy used for LHD), fiscal effort (potential amount of tax levy available for LHD), and fiscal capacity (wealth of community). More important it is not known to what extent variation between local jurisdictions fluctuated over time, how they are offset by declining funding from other sources, or whether other sources supplement total tax levy reductions. It is essential to explore these issues to provide a basic understanding of fiscal drivers for ongoing services. Our findings indicate that from 2006 to 2010 the local tax levy for public health as a percent of total local health department expenditures decreased 6.7%, while local tax levy for public health as a percent of total tax levy decreased 14.6%. However, during this time period the total per capita tax levy for all services increased 25.2%.

Impact of Community Wealth on Use of Cardiac-Resynchronization Therapy With Defibrillators for Heart Failure Patients

Disparities in cardiovascular disease treatment are a major health policy concern. A complex interplay of patient, provider, and social contextual factors affect inequities in care. We used data regarding 22 205 patient stays in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry to explore the effect of hospital resources on receipt of a heart failure therapy, cardiac-resynchronization therapy with defibrillation (CRT-D). When added to patient-level variables, hospital ownership, cardiac patient volume, cardiac procedure availability, CRT-D, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation volumes, and hospital financial characteristics were individually predictive of CRT-D receipt. In the full hierarchical model, average median household income (P<0.0001) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator implantation volume (P<0.001) remained significant predictors of CRT-D receipt. Patients treated at hospitals in affluent communities were more likely to receive CRT-D than patients treated in poor communities, despite accounting for other patient and hospital characteristics, including insurance status. These findings suggest that the likelihood of receiving CRT-D is mediated by community wealth and hospital resources, and that health policy targeting insurance coverage alone may be ineffective in resolving inequities in care.

Water and waste management in the Moroccan tourism industry: The case of three women entrepreneurs

Synopsis Water is a key resource for the tourism industry, especially in countries lacking in drinking water and water infrastructures, such as Morocco. This case study analyzes women's degree of empowerment for making significant decisions regarding water management, and their contribution to the community through the companies they establish in the tourism sector. Through the tourism industry, the Moroccan women have managed to enter the labor force in the formal economy, thus gaining independence and social recognition. The study shows that women can have a positive role in promoting practices designed to protect the environment in view of managing the available water resources, thus helping to increase the wealth of the local community.

A Theoretical Framework on the Determinants of Strategic Cities

Strategic planning is a commonly used management technique, but most state and city studies on strategic planning are descriptive and have not developed a clear theory as to why cities use strategic planning. In this paper, we develop a framework for measuring cities’ use of strategic planning, that includes factors related to form of government, community wealth, and other community attributes as well as the more commonly examined factors related to internal city management capacity. Rather than using a dichotomous dependent variable of “use” or “not use,” we use an index of four strategic planning activities to represent the extent of strategic planning use. We test our multivariate model using ordered logit and data collected from a 2005 survey of Florida city managers, mayors and chief administrative officers. We find support for all four of the major theoretical factors in our model. More strategic cities are more likely to be council manager cities, heterogeneous in population, depend less on sales tax revenue, have risk-taking leadership, use more contracting out, and have staff who participate in professional networks.

Education and the Creation of Capital in the Early American Republic (review)

Education and Creation of Capital in Early American Republic. By Nancy Beadie. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Pp. xiv, 353. Cloth, $95.00.)Reviewed by William W. Cutler, IIILike many scholarly books, this one began as a dissertation, although it took longer to be published than might be expected. As a graduate student at Syracuse University in 1980s, Nancy Beadie ventured into university's archives where she discovered collection that would become basis for her book. Established in 1870, Syracuse traces its origins to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (GWS), an academy that was founded in Lima, New York in 1832. Institutional histories occupy an established albeit undistinguished place in historiography of American education, but this book is not an institutional history. Far from it! Rather, it is a nuanced analysis of role that church and school played in economic, social, and political development of western New York in first half of nineteenth century. The breadth of its research and depth of its scholarship justifies many years its author devoted to it.The book's argument revolves around concept of social capital, an idea most often associated with work of social scientists like Theda Skocpol, Robert Putnam, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence Katz. They have argued that a community's wealth derives not just from its economic assets but also from its social relationships. To make most of their property, knowledge, and skills, a community's members must trust one another. They must associate closely to leverage their assets. Applying this concept to her topic, Beadie argues that the economic significance of schooling in rural North during early republican era lay not in production of human or intellectual capital but in creation and mobilization of social capital and its conversion into political capital for die modern liberal state (320).Comprising eighteen chapters and a conclusion, book is divided into three parts. The first examines history of churches and schools in and around Lima, a farming town and trading center on Genesee Road about halfway between Buffalo and Syracuse. Beadie ascribes a significant role to area's Methodists - both lay and clerical - who facilitated development of friendships and trust upon which social capital rests. For example, Methodist women, who were well connected but legally indigent, drew upon their husbands' wealth to build potent social networks. They marshaled their households' surplus labor and capital on behalf of collective activities like schools, which themselves provided an alternative mode of association, building bonds among churched and unchurched.In part two Beadie devotes much of her attention to relationship between political and social capital, arguing that without latter there would not have been enough of former to bring about expansion of schooling in rural New York. At beginning of nineteenth century, school attendance there was occasional and intermittent. Some children almost never attended. The educational marketplace was diversified; those wanting a formal education could choose among private teachers, local academies, and town schools. …

Technological innovation in the value chain: A case study of soybean processing for food and wealth

Small-scale food production and processing are the major sources of livelihoods for many rural communities in the developing world, yet the contribution of this sector to economic development of many countries has been ignored. A soybean for food and wealth project was used to demonstrate how the effective harnessing of different disciplines can lead to alleviation of poverty and improved nutritional status in rural communities. This was done by identifying the production and processing constraints of these communities and linking them to research and innovation centres. Their production, processing, and managerial capacities were enhanced through group formation activities, farm and field demonstrations, and facilitation of access to markets. The project demonstrates how food production, processing, and marketing can be improved through linkages between farmers/small-scale enterprises and technology centres. It highlights the need for a synergistic approach to reducing poverty and improving the wealth and health of rural communities.