Do Entrepreneurs Enhance Economic Growth in Lagging Regions?

Because support for entrepreneurship is often a core part of economic development strategies, we investigate whether it is important for growth in lagging, rural U.S. regions by focusing on Appalachia. While entrepreneurship has the advantage of being endogenous and “home grown,” previous research suggests that remote rural regions may lack the agglomeration economies to benefit greatly from entrepreneurship. Using county‐level data, we explore the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth, employing self‐employment and small business data as proxies for entrepreneurship. We look at the results for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) region, using its immediate Appalachian neighbors outside the ARC region as a control group. Moreover, we also account for self‐sorting by proprietors to locate in expanding regions. Despite strong barriers to growth in Appalachia, our empirical results suggest that self‐employment is positively associated with employment and income growth, and that efforts to promote entrepreneurial capacity may be among the few economic development strategies with positive payoffs in remote regions.     

Does household laborer migration promote farmland abandonment in China?

This paper investigates the effects of household labor migration on rural household decision making over on the abandonment of farmland using 11,413 rural households' data from 2012 to 2016 in China. The results demonstrate that with every 1% increase in the number of 1, 2, 3, or more household migrant laborers, the average probability of rural households' farmland abandonment increases by 2.9%, 5.0%, and 7.8%, respectively. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the average age of household migrant laborers and farmland abandonment. Both off-farm employment and part-time employment have positive impacts on farmland abandonment. If the age of the household head is younger, the number of household members is smaller, the village has suffered natural disasters, and village elevation is higher, rural households with laborers migrating are most likely to abandon farmland. As the rural household laborer migrates, the wage earning of rural household increases, which leads to the households gradually giving up management of farmland, which may be an important mechanism for Chinese households abandoning farmland. The establishment of a paid transfer system may be an effective way to solve the issue of farmland abandonment.     

Entrepreneurship and Extraregional Trade in the Producer Services

Traditional explanations of interaction (trade) in city systems fail to capture the breadth and complexity of extraregional markets in the producer services. Building on market-process theory, which argues that markets are adaptive and rarely in equilibrium, the development of extraregional trade in the producer services was investigated as a form of firm-level entrepreneurship. While firms' entrepreneurial behaviors are influenced by a variety of internal characteristics, such as entrepreneurial spirit, size, age, and ownership, it is argued that a firm's location is an important conditioning factor on the degree of success it achieves with market expansion. The hypothesis is evaluated using spatial market extent data developed from a survey of 615 producer service firms located in 16 Midwest cities. A firm's degree of entrepreneurship is indexed by a qualitative assessment of its marketing activities, ranging from “aggressive” to “none.” Cox proportional hazards models, in a spatial-analog of survival analysis, were used to examine the influence of entrepreneurship on the spatial extents of firms' markets. The results confirm that location, more so than firm size or age, has a significant influence on the spatial extent of a firm's extraregional trade. The influence of location is generally complex: surfacing directly as a market scale effect, and indirectly as a conditioning factor on the success of a firm's entrepreneurial behavior. The results suggest that extraregional trade in producers services is predicated on more than just production cost (i.e., internal or external scale economies) or distribution cost (i.e., distance) factors, and that behavioral theories of the market can provide meaningful insight into the geography of market interaction.     

农民工个人特质对回乡创业意愿的影响分析

当前,在中国大地上兴起了新一轮创业热潮,其中农民工回乡创业成为社会各界关注的一个重要议题。农民工个人特质对其回乡创业具有重要影响。基于河南、广西2地的实地调研数据,分析农民工个人特质对回乡创业意愿的影响。研究结果显示,在农民工个人特质中,成就动机和冒险精神对其回乡创业意愿具有显著的正向影响,自主性和亲和力对其回乡创业意愿具有一定的正向影响,控制力和聪慧性对其回乡创业意愿没有显著影响。根据以上结论,提出在创业辅导中加强对农民工个人特质问题的调查、培养回乡农民工中成功创业者的个人特质,以促进农民工回乡创业的政策建议。     

乡村振兴背景下黑龙江省电商扶贫策略研究

电商扶贫是促进贫困地区发展并最终摆脱贫困的一种创新型扶贫手段。黑龙江省作为中国最北的农业大省,一方面存在一定程度的农村贫困问题,另一方面又具有生态环境良好、绿色农产品资源丰富的优势,因此十分适合运用电商手段助力精准扶贫和精准脱贫。以黑龙江省为研究对象,通过全面梳理和系统性分析黑龙江省农村电商扶贫现状,发现电商扶贫中存在农民从业人员“等靠要”思想严重、电商产业缺乏领军人物、农产品标准化程度低和基础设施相对不足等问题,并有针对性的提出提高贫困户电商脱贫意识、培养农村电商领军人才、建立本土农产品电商知名品牌和完善基础设施等对策建议,为黑龙江省进一步发展农村电商扶贫提供新的思路与方向。     

Disparities and Divided Growth: Ethnic Entrepreneurship in the Greater Los Angeles Area, 1980–2015

This study employs a multilevel research design to examine business ownership across ethnic groups in the greater Los Angeles area. It finds significant divide between white and non‐white businesses along the labor market hierarchy. The entrepreneurial environment, ethnic residential communities, ethnic business spatial clustering, ethnic concentration in particular niche sectors, and ethnic diversity in local areas are all related to business ownership and disparities across ethnic groups. The results suggest that ethnically diverse neighborhoods and co‐ethnic business communities could provide a conducive institutional environment and resources for minority businesses to start. However, in contrast to white owned businesses, ethnic minority businesses' concentration in the low‐end and easy‐entry sectors may reinforce their disadvantages and hinder upward economic mobility. This study provides policy implications for community regional development through entrepreneurship especially when race and ethnicity are concerned.     

The formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters: A case from China

Agricultural e‐commerce clusters are new phenomena that have emerged in rural China. In examining the case of Shuyang County in Jiangsu Province, this paper puts forward an integrated model revealing the formation mechanism of agricultural e‐commerce clusters. The paper shows that the formation of agricultural e‐commerce clusters involves four processes of technology introduction, technology diffusion, quality crisis, and industrial agglomeration based on elements such as industry bases, e‐commerce platforms, network facilities, logistics services, entrepreneurial talent, local government, and market demand. Rural social networks and imitation behaviors promote technology diffusion by reducing the cost of technology introduction, and industrial agglomeration is found in the economies showing a deepening of labor divisions and geographic agglomeration. Throughout the formation process, a quality crisis may occur due to a race to the bottom and the opportunistic behaviors of local farmers. This work suggests that regional e‐commerce development is a systematic project. Governments of developing countries should not only realize the positive impacts of e‐commerce for the development of the agricultural industry but also recognize the premise and logic of how e‐commerce can play a prominent role.     

农地产权制度的多样性研究

研究农地产权制度多样性的理论和历史,正确认识农地产权制度改革中的新情况和新问题具有重要意义。模型和历史分析表明,农地产权制度的多样性是农民生产组织自觉追求制度利润的结果。农地产权制度的多样性有利于农地产权的制度竞争,有利于农村生产力水平的提高。农地产权制度的政策选择要与当地的农村经济发展水平相适应。政府在产权制度改革进程中不但要发挥其增加制度收益的积极作用,如促进农村集体经济组织建设,建立城乡人力资源互动机制,适当提高农产品收购价格等,而且要约束其增加制度成本的行为。     

闽台农业发展比较及促进福建农民创业对策思考

摘要：本文通过对闽台农业和农村经济发展基础、阶段差异、资源配置效率、政策支持取向和创业模式等进行了研究比较,并在对福建农民创业的现状及存在问题进行研究分析的基础上,提出改善福建农村经济发展和农民创业环境、提高农民创业能力的政策建议。     

农民创业者获取创业资源中社会网络的利用

农民创业活动已成为推动农村经济发展和农村城镇化进程的重要动力源泉，创业资源的获取是制约农民创业者的关键因素，而社会网络影响着农民创业过程中社会资源的配置，因此探讨农民获取创业资源的社会网络途径和机制有着重要的意义。运用问卷调查和统计分析的办法，就社会网络对农民创业者获取创业资源的影响作了分析，将农民创业者的社会网络按其关系密度进行了分类，深入分析了该社会网络的规模、密度、动态性和差异性，研究发现不同类型的社会网络在农民创业者获取资源过程中作用各有不同。     

城镇化进程中农民工创业意愿及其影响因素研究——基于甘肃省农民工调查数据的实证分析

为了研究农民工创业意愿的相关影响因素,对甘肃省289位农民工进行了调查,并运用二元Logistic模型实证分析了影响农民工创业意愿的因素。结果表明：从影响因素来看,年龄小、已婚、受教育程度越高、有创业经历、能得到家人支持且社交广泛的农民工创业意愿越强烈,而务工月收入、家庭人均纯收入越高、偏好冒险的农民工不倾向于创业。同时调查发现创业资金匮乏、没有一技之长、文化程度不高是农民工创业的最大障碍,担心创业失败是农民工创业的心理屏障。因此政府要加大创业资金扶持及政策宣传,加强农民工职业技能培训和创业培训,确保农民工能多渠道获取创业信息,引导农民工高效创业。     

Best Practices in Twenty‐First‐Century Rural Development and Policy

The combination of less than perfectly mobile resources (human and other), pervasive urbanization trends with potentially significant (positive and negative) externalities, and an environment of fiscal restraint suggests the need for more effective rural development and policy. In contrast to historical sectoral or fad‐based policies, place‐based rural development programs and policies focus on rural populations in the context of a realistic assessment of the opportunities and constraints they face. Among the most promising opportunities are 1) improving integration (possibly through connective infrastructure) with urban economies in order to access agglomeration economies, 2) enhancing rural amenities, and 3) increasing entrepreneurial capacity.     

关于太原市开展创业培训的几点思考

就业是民生之本,创业是民富之源,创业培训是提高企业开办率、稳定企业经营率的重要环节。太原市作为山西省省会城市,在开展创业培训工作中积累了较多经验。主要阐释了太原市创业培训的做法,指出其中存在的问题,对未来开展创业培训提出相关建议。     

Immigration and Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study in the United States

Using Singer's typology of different types of immigration gateways, this study mainly addresses how metropolitan area conditions impact ethnic labor force entrepreneurial choices across ethnicity and gender, within the contexts of different types of immigration gateways. Employing the 5 percent 2000 Integrated Public Usable Microdata Samples and a multilevel regression strategy, this study demonstrates that different types of immigration gateways have distinctive impacts on ethnic entrepreneurship. After controlling for both personal‐ and metropolitan‐level characteristics, it is found that whites and blacks are more likely to own businesses in newer immigration gateways, while Hispanics and Asians are more likely to do so in the more established gateways. In addition, differences as to the interaction effects of gender and regional labor markets are the most significant for blacks and Asians. Such interaction effects reshape gender differences in business ownership across ethnic groups.     

贫困地区电子商务发展与农产品网销影响因素研究——以贵州省威宁县“电商扶贫”为例

电商扶贫是精准扶贫的重要方式。笔者以贵州省威宁县为研究对象,结合当地电商发展情况,尝试研究分析电商发展中的关键性制约,并提出促进电商产业发展的政策措施。研究运用访谈法、SWOT分析和层次分析法。描述和阐述威宁县电商发展现状和问题,分析内部和外部因素,分析探讨农产品网销的优势、劣势、机会、威胁中各类因素,并借助专家评分和层次分析法计算权重,从而给出策略选择。分析认为：发展电商有利于威宁扶贫减贫,但购销不对称问题是其中不可回避的重要障碍,而跨越这一障碍中威胁影响最大,优势次之,机会再次,劣势影响排在最末。威宁农产品网销可以选取ST战略,发挥优势应对威胁,同时兼顾SO战略。建议威宁在产品“打绿色牌”、降低生产流通成本、营造良好电商环境、推进农村服务体系高端化、发展电商旅游等方面着力。     

Women in community-involved tourism enterprises: Experiences in the Philippines

The tourism industry has long been recognised for supporting women in achieving economic empowerment and social freedom through entrepreneurial and employment opportunities. Widely recognised as a women-dominated sector, tourism is deemed to be a facilitator of women's development following the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the existing literature suggests, women's involvement in tourism activities supports local economic growth and development, while facilitating social transformation that enables them to create their own identities. Despite these achievements, several studies noted the persisting issues women face in participating in tourism. With the goal of contributing to existing discourses, this paper aims to analyse their experiences in community entrepreneurship by examining several community-involved tourism enterprises in the Philippines. The findings of this study reveal that women have been largely involved in tourism activities in that country, yet their experiences working in these enterprises vary. The opportunities and challenges identified in this study can serve as a springboard for further analysis of the experience of women working in the Philippine tourism industry.     

Social Capital and Entrepreneurship: Does the Relationship Hold in Deprived Urban Neighbourhoods?

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurship in deprived urban neighbourhoods (DUNs). While there is a great deal of research on social capital, its usage and value in deprived areas is an under‐researched topic. Drawing on survey data, it is found that social capital in the form of network ties within a DUN is linked to how entrepreneurship develops in these places. The breadth and variety of network ties that individuals are able to identify as sources of advice is related to the probability of considering an entrepreneurial career, and is even more strongly related to the conversion of entrepreneurial intentions into full engagement. If entrepreneurship is to be harnessed in DUNs a starting point is the enhancement of initiatives for developing social capital incorporating local businesses, residents, and local government agencies.     

The impact of external knowledge sourcing on innovation outcomes in rural and urban businesses in the U.S.

This paper examines the relationship between external knowledge sourcing and a diverse set of innovation outcomes in rural and urban establishments in the U.S. Existing studies in the broader knowledge management literature principally examine firms in a single industry, overwhelmingly rely on patent data to proxy for innovation, and cannot account for the innovations of businesses in rural American markets. By addressing these limitations using data from the 2014 Rural Establishment Innovation Survey of the USDA's Economic Research Service, this research provides novel insights into how externally acquired knowledge by American establishments may support innovation. Results of the analysis suggest that external knowledge sourcing may specifically promote product, process, and green innovation in U.S. firms. While collective results when external sources of information are divided by industry orientation fail to show that sources outside of a firm's industry play a dominant role in the innovation processes of American establishments in general, findings provide evidence for an outsized impact of these relationships within rural establishments specifically and suggest that external knowledge sourcing from extra‐industry organizations is most critical for promoting successful innovation in rural firms. Results additionally indicate that knowledge sourcing from non‐local organizations may be more important for supporting innovation in rural compared to urban markets.     

Contributions to the Analysis of Genotype × Environment Interactions: Experimental Results of the Application and Comparison of Clustering Techniques for the Stratification of Field Test Sites

The results from multienvironment field performance trials of cultivars are usually analysed as two‐way classification data with rows=genotypes/cultivars and columns=environments (locations and/or years). To reduce the impact of genotype × environment interaction effects, one commonly stratifies genotypes/cultivars or environments by cluster analysis techniques into homogeneous groups so that interactions within groups are minimized. By such a stratification, for example of test sites, with regard to similarity of genotype × environment interactions and the selection of only one representative test site from each group, the overall number of necessary test sites for yield trials can be reduced. In the literature, many clustering techniques have been proposed. Systematic comparisons between different cluster methods, however, are rather rare. A single cluster method is characterized by `measure of distance', `stopping criterion', `algorithm' and `level of significance'. In this paper, 11 clustering techniques were applied to extensive yield data sets of several agricultural crops (faba bean, fodder beet, oat, winter oilseed rape and sugar beet) from the official registration trials of the German `Bundessortenamt'. The results were compared with each other using two proposed parameters: measure of resemblance (for two classifications) and cluster size (for one classification). Neither the level of significance nor the algorithm has a substantial impact on the resulting clusters. The final results of clustering are therefore mainly determined by the stopping criterion with its associated measure of distance. If one uses tests for crossover interactions as stopping criteria, the resulting clusters are larger than the resulting clusters for the F‐test of conventional interactions in an analysis of variance. The cluster size decreases with increasing sensitivity of the tests that are used as stopping criteria. Finally, recommendations for the choice and handling of clustering techniques for practical applications are given.     

Teaching System of Chinese Architectural History Based on the Idea of “Innovation + Practice + Entrepreneurship”

With the introduction of Opinions on Deepening the Reform in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Education in Colleges and Universities issued by the General Office of the State Council, establishing an advanced innovative and entrepreneurial education idea, persisting in cultivation-orientation and comprehensively improving personnel training quality have become an important development direction of higher education, and the innovation and entrepreneurship education reform has provided an impetus for the comprehensive reform in colleges and universities. In this context, how to combine the concept of innovation and entrepreneurship education with the traditional teaching system proves to be an important issue to be considered in the development of colleges and universities. The construction of three teaching platforms for innovation, practice and entrepreneurship enables the idea of innovation and entrepreneurship education to be incorporated into the teaching process of Chinese architectural history, thereby carrying out a systematic, comprehensive, far-reaching teaching system reform. The past several years have witnessed a good teaching effect in University of Science and Technology Liaoning due to the implementation of the teaching system reform. It is hoped that the teaching system reform carried out by University of Science and Technology Liaoning can provide a reference for the teaching of Chinese architectural history.