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Governments have a history of intervention in the market to aid small, minority, and women-owned businesses. This research explores women-owned business development programs across the United States. The paper begins with a discussion of programs to serve women-owned businesses, noting barriers that exist for women business owners to access markets and capital. Analysis considers program offerings and how they are communicated to the public and client businesses via government websites. Policy approaches may reinforce patterns of suppression, rather than opening maximum opportunities for women business owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Recession forced many people around to cut back on consumption and is one reason that drives the rise of right-wing forces. One response to the downturn has been a call for a return to high-level growth and consumption of goods. By contrast, this paper argues in favor of an alternative conception of the good life. To defend this thesis, it first surveys the social science literature regarding the relationship between income and happiness, noting that the growth of the former does not necessarily translate to improvements in the latter. Next, it provides a number of explanations of why greater income and consumption often do not yield greater happiness. The paper then goes on to discuss historical and theoretical alternatives to consumerism-driven life and society. Finally, it discusses how happiness can best be found in socializing with others, participating in the community, and engaging in spiritual and intellectual pursuits. The paper, thus, concludes that human contentment and flourishing is perhaps best found outside of the high-growth, high-consumption paradigm. Moreover, it finds that such a new normal is not only protective of the environment, but also enhances social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprise and innovation are inextricably linked in the literature (Chell et al. in Entrepr Reg Dev 22(6):485-493, 2010; Dees in Harv Bus Rev 76:54, 1998; Light in Stanf Soc Innov Rev 4(3):47-51, 2006). To date, research on social enterprise innovation has predominantly focused on micro-level factors, such as the social entrepreneur or organizational attributes. Inversely, recent empirical advances on social enterprise find a country’s social enterprise sector is influenced by macro-institutional factors, including form of government, stage of economic development, culture and model of civil society (Monroe-White and Coskun, in: Shaping social enterprise: understanding institutional context and influence, Emerald Publishing Limited, London, pp 27-48, 2017). Given the link between social enterprise and innovation, recent empirical findings around social enterprise beg the question, do macro-institutional factors similarly predict innovation by social enterprises? This paper uses a hierarchical linear model to examine the influence of national-level variables on social enterprise innovation. Results indicate that similar to social enterprise, macro-institutional factors predict social enterprise innovation. More specifically, macro-institutional factors influence the various types of innovations (product, process and marketing) differently. Moreover, country-level innovation is traditionally defined by economic factors, such as R&D funding and STEM workforce, however, these factors do not help explain social enterprise innovation. Given the social aspects of social enterprise innovation, to capture the full scope of innovation within countries, expanded definitions of national-level innovation should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the relationship between potato prices and potato production is important for understanding industry developments. The analysis of the effect of potato production on potato prices was presented in two AJPR articles: Pavlista and Feuz (American Journal of Potato Research 82:339-343, 2005) and Loy et al. (American Journal of Potato Research 85:438-444, 2011). The articles estimated inverse potato demand in the U.S. and Germany, respectively, during the period of 1980-2003. They hypothesized that the potato price response to changes in potato production may be affected by a shift in consumer demand towards increasing consumption of processed potatoes in the U.S. and by socio-economic changes in Germany. This paper extends the existing research by analyzing the recent price developments in the U.S. potato industry. The empirical results indicate that the potato price response to changes in potato production was different during the period of 2005-2010, as compared to the periods of 1993-2004 and 2011-2016, which coincided with the implementation of the potato acreage management program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public opinion research shows that American citizens utilize domain-specific political values to guide opinion formation in the key issue areas that comprise the American political agenda. One set of political values operates on economic welfare opinions, a different set of values applies to cultural issue positions, a third set shapes foreign policy preferences, and so on in other policy domains. Drawing on Shalom Schwartz's theory of basic human values, this paper argues that two socially focused values-self-transcendence and conservation-guide opinion formation across all major policy domains. By contrast, the personally focused values of self-enhancement and openness-to-change should play a more limited role in preference formation. These hypotheses are tested using data from a novel 2011 national survey and the 2012 General Social Survey. The statistical results affirm expectations. We show that self-transcendence and conservation values predict scores on symbolic ideology, economic conservatism, racial conservatism, cultural conservatism, civil liberties, and foreign policy opinions. Self-enhancement and openness-to-change values play a modest role in shaping preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fraction of U.S. college graduate women who ever marry has increased relative to less educated women since the mid-1970s. In contrast, college graduate women in developed Asian countries have had decreased rates of marriage, so much so that the term 'Gold Misses' has been coined to describe them. This paper argues that the interaction of rapid economic growth in Asia combined with the intergenerational transmission of gender attitudes causes the 'Gold Miss' phenomenon. I present a simple dynamic model then test its implications using U.S. and Asian data on marriage and time use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American Indian and Alaska Native tribes are uniquely affected by climate change. Indigenous peoples have depended on a wide variety of native fungi, plant and animal species for food, medicine, ceremonies, community and economic health for countless generations. Climate change stands to impact the species and ecosystems that constitute tribal traditional foods that are vital to tribal culture, economy and traditional ways of life. This paper examines the impacts of climate change on tribal traditional foods by providing cultural context for the importance of traditional foods to tribal culture, recognizing that tribal access to traditional food resources is strongly influenced by the legal and regulatory relationship with the federal government, and examining the multi-faceted relationship that tribes have with places, ecological processes and species. Tribal participation in local, regional and national climate change adaption strategies, with a focus on food-based resources, can inform and strengthen the ability of both tribes and other governmental resource managers to address and adapt to climate change impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of high welfare re-entry rates has attracted great attention from economists and policymakers. Using a very rich administrative data set for the minimum income program of the Madrid Government (over 50,000 spells), this paper aims to broach various questions arising from the issue of welfare re-entry. We try to identify what factors determine observed differences in the durations of the first off-welfare spell. We analyze the combined effects of the length and type of exit of the first spell, unemployment, and sociodemographic characteristics. The experience of the first spell and, to a lesser extent, employability can contribute toward lengthening the time spent outside the program. Our results also show that off-welfare spells of households leaving the program in periods of low economic growth will be longer than those that do so during economic expansions. With the exception of unemployment effects, our estimates yield very similar results to those obtained in the U.S. studies, suggesting that U.S. welfare policies and analyses are not entirely irrelevant for European discussions of welfare policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the government and society of the Republic of China's (ROC or Taiwan) have changed markedly in the new millennium, the fundamentals of US policy toward the island remain intact. This study outlines recent developments in Taiwan and shows how they represent challenges to the US. It also discusses American policy toward Taiwan and examines several proposals for change that an American administration may wish to consider. In conclusion, the paper explains why the current policy, albeit contradictory and ambiguous, is in the best interest of the United States. There is a strong possibility that any major change in policy would succeed only in undermining peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of trade liberalization and the risks associated with participation in the global trading system on women’s integration into national labor markets. Using data from 1970 to 1995, I identify two global determinants of the female share of national labor markets: trade openness and transnational corporate penetration. Several local predictors of women’s labor force participation are also identified. While a cross-sectional analysis indicates that women have been pulled into national labor markets as a result of neo-liberal economic reforms, more dynamic models show that these same forces can also lead to a preference for male, rather than female labor. Moreover, the analyses specify that the effects of trade openness and trade risk on female labor force participation are determined by position in the world-system and region. These results illustrate that arguments about the relationship between globalization and the feminization of the labor force, are too simplistic and neglect to account for the diverse consequences of global economic expansion on gender relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the recent history of State-level policies in the United States for knowledge-based economic development, and identifies an emerging model based on technology creation. This new model goes beyond traditional investments in technology transfer and prioritizes cutting-edge scientific research in economically relevant fields. As research-intensive universities are indispensable for technology creation, these policies have yielded substantial new investments in university science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the “connection”between higher education and economic development in Massachusetts, a state whose renowned academic institutions have fueled the rise of a premier high technology industrial district. But in the aftermath to the abrupt demise of the “Massachusetts Miracle”, the state higher education system sought to develop a new mandate for public service in the 90s keyed to upgrading the state‘s industrial base and coordinating with labor market needs. These growing involvements in manifestly vocational endeavors seem to reflect a major shift in the models that articulate the higher education-economic development “connection” in Massachusetts. Thus, it appears that the elite model of the “world-class” research university sparking numerous industry spin-offs has been joined by newer diffusion-oriented models of academic outreach that extend out from the community colleges into the workplace and even into the K-12 schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents findings of sociological research studies in the U.S. A study conducted by Lisa S. Keister reveals that education, income, female labor force participation, and careers are factors that contribute to the upward mobility among Catholics. A survey conducted by J. Ameriks and colleagues show how those Americans anticipating retirement expect to live under changed circumstances. Furthermore, another paper investigates the long-term implications of globalization from the standpoint of economic development .

Purpose: This paper seeks to pilot test a novel way to collect freight and service activity data and analyze the collected data in the metropolitan area of Medellin, Colombia.Methods: This research collects data using a multi-layer and multi-actor approach that includes surveys to receivers, suppliers, carriers, and truck drivers. The data are used by the authors to describe the overall freight patterns in the area of study and to show lessons learned.Results: The data collection resulted in 2947 establishments (4.4% of the total establishments in the city), a cordon survey of 2950 commercial vehicles (17% of the total vehicle volume) accessing the urban area, and carrier interviews to ten companies and 130 truck drivers. The results indicate that a total of 33,274 metric tons/day enter the study area, 35,240 tons/day leave the area; while 7000 tons/day are distributed in the study area. In terms of freight trips, 6600 trips/day enter the study zone and 6600 trips/day leave it.Conclusions: The data collection effort enabled the analyses of freight generation patterns. The freight surveys used in the study complement each other, and provided a good depiction of the freight movements in urban areas. It was found that in the Medellin Metropolitan Area, freight-intensive sector establishments generates, on average, significantly more cargo (freight attraction plus production) than the service-intensive sectors. The analyses of the surveys allow the decision makers to understand the nature of the cargo and the generation patterns in different type of establishments. This characterization of the freight patterns is vital for the forecasting of the behavior of the cargo and it is the main input to perform freight demand modeling for city planning, especially for developing countries, where there are too many budget constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]