摘要:

AbstractRaw material extraction once offered an effective route to economic development, but societal relationships with environment and technology have changed so fundamentally that extractive industries today appear more likely to lead rural regions to economic addiction. Key characteristics of addictive activities include rising costs of operation at most extractive facilities, combined with downward trends in world commodity prices. Key characteristics of vulnerable communities and regions include increasing geographic isolation, imbalances of scale and power with respect to extractive industries, and the absence of realistic alternatives for diversified development. Key pressures toward addiction are created by ambiguities that mask the addictive tendencies, including ambiguities of price signals, of employment and development possibilities for remote regions, and of resource exhaustion. The net result is that, while the encouragement to develop extractive industries is often coupled with advice to avoid developing an excessive dependency on a single economic sector, the very regions and nations having the greatest need to hear such advice may also have the lowest realistic ability to respond to it.

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00467.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractThe Goldschmidt thesis (1947, 1978) maintains that increasing farm size in the United States has undermined the well‐being of rural communities. Recent studies have cast doubt on this, however. We analyze data for nonmetropolitan counties in the United States, and also incorporate indicators of the nonfarm economic sector into our analysis so that we can explore the net effect of farm structure on well‐being. In addition, we distinguish nonmetropolitan counties by their level of farm dependency. Our study fails to support the Goldschmidt the

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00468.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractAdvocates of sustainable agriculture consider farmer flexibility and innovativeness a key element in efforts to develop farm practices that reduce chemical inputs. In contrast to labor displacing technologies, farming with reduced chemical inputs may increase labor demands. Consequently, concerns about labor supply may affect farmer adaptability in reducing chemical inputs. This research addresses two specific questions. First, how concerned are farmers about the availability of labor needed to reduce chemical inputs? Second, do farmers view production problems as insurmountable without chemicals because of labor constraints? The majority of farmers surveyed agree that it is difficult to reduce chemical inputs because additional labor is hard to find, and their own labor inputs would have to increase. Results of OLS regression analysis show that whether the farmer hires workers affects the relationship between perceived labor and production barriers. Labor supply is less elastic for farmers who hire no labor, and they have less access to social networks that would provide them with sources of the additional workers needed if chemical inputs were reduced. The significance of these results for the development of sources of information that enhance farmer adaptability is discussed.

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00469.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractIn recent years, publicly funded agricultural science at land grant universities (LGUs) has come under increasing criticism by those who argue that LGUs have contributed to an industrial mode of agriculture that is neither ecologically nor socioeconomically sustainable. The views of critics and defenders of modern industrial agriculture reflect two competing perspectives on agriculture—an alternative and a conventional paradigm. Utilizing a 24‐item alternative‐conventional agriculture paradigm (ACAP) scale, this study analyzes the paradigmatic positions of faculty in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics at Washington State University. Results reveal that the faculty are slightly more conventional than are farmers statewide, slightly less conventional than proponents of conventional agriculture, and far more conventional than known alternative agriculturalists. When looking at particular elements of the agricultural debate, however, the faculty tend to be more conventional than farmers on the socioeconomic elements of the competing paradigms but considerably less conventional on elements dealing with ecological and conservation issues. Women, younger faculty, non‐land grant educated faculty, and faculty not raised on farms are somewhat more likely to endorse the alternative agriculture paradigm than are their counterparts. These differences are minor, however, compared to the differences across academic disciplines. Faculty of departments oriented to the social sciences (with the exception of agricultural economics) tend to most strongly endorse the alternative paradigm, while faculty from the more production‐oriented departments and agricultural economics are the most conventional. Possible implications of the findings are discussed for the future of publicly‐funded agricultu

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00470.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractSince the late 1950s and 1960s, New Hampshire has experienced unprecedented growth. During the past two decades, this growth has begun to be felt in the state's North Country, particularly among its many small communities. As a result of developmental pressures in this region, numerous local problems related to the environment and socioeconomic conditions surfaced. The responsibility for meeting the challenges of such growth and development often fell on amateur bureaucrats. Relatively little is known about how representative such officials are of their local citizenry in terms of attitudes and opinions or sociodemograph‐ics. This paper presents the results of a study comparing demographic characteristics and assesses the congruence of attitudes of citizens and local government officials in the North Country of New Hampshir

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00471.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

AbstractParticipation in rural development programs that organize members into local cooperative groups can alter the decision‐making environment facing couples to reflect some of the negative consequences of childbearing. This study uses data from Nepal, collected through a combination of ethnographic and survey methods, to test the effects of participation in such a development program on fertility behavior. Results demonstrate that program participants are much more likely to use contraceptives to limit their fertility than are non‐participants. The study provides empirical support for theories linking this type of institutional change to fertility and indicates a policy option that can allow some negative consequences of childbearing to affect couples' fertility decisi

ISSN:0036-0112    

DOI:10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00472.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1992

数据来源: WILEY