title: Roles of local and newcomer entrepreneurs in rural development: A comparative meta-analytic study

authors: Akgun, Allye A.

subjects: entrepreneurship

abstract: Roles of local and newcomer entrepreneurs in rural development: a comparative meta-analytic study, Regional Studies. Early studies of rural development suggested that newcomer rural entrepreneurs are important agents of change and responsible for new spatial development, but more recent research has concluded that there is no difference between newcomer and local rural entrepreneurs in this respect. Much of this literature is based on qualitative ethnographic case studies. Systematic pooling and scrutinizing of the main attributes and findings of such studies enhances their comparability and permits some generalization. Newcomer and local rural entrepreneurship is therefore investigated by means of a meta-analysis of twenty-two applied studies. The statistical results show that newcomer entrepreneurs are relatively older, better educated, and develop more non-agricultural business. They appear to be predominantly attracted by a rural lifestyle. In many cases, newcomer entrepreneurs are not directly the instigators of economic development, but their contribution to physical capital formation is greater than that of the locals.

text: Roles of local and newcomer entrepreneurs in rural development: A comparative meta-analytic study Roles of local and newcomer entrepreneurs in rural development: a comparative meta-analytic study, Regional Studies. Early studies of rural development suggested that newcomer rural entrepreneurs are important agents of change and responsible for new spatial development, but more recent research has concluded that there is no difference between newcomer and local rural entrepreneurs in this respect. Much of this literature is based on qualitative ethnographic case studies. Systematic pooling and scrutinizing of the main attributes and findings of such studies enhances their comparability and permits some generalization. Newcomer and local rural entrepreneurship is therefore investigated by means of a meta-analysis of twenty-two applied studies. The statistical results show that newcomer entrepreneurs are relatively older, better educated, and develop more non-agricultural business. They appear to be predominantly attracted by a rural lifestyle. In many cases, newcomer entrepreneurs are not directly the instigators of economic development, but their contribution to physical capital formation is greater than that of the locals.

year: 2010

title: A land of milk and honey with streets paved with gold: Do emigrants have over-optimistic expectations about incomes abroad?

authors: McKenzie, David

subjects: expectations

abstract: Millions of people emigrate every year in search of better economic and social opportunities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that emigrants may have over-optimistic expectations about the incomes they can earn abroad, resulting in excessive migration pressure, and in disappointment amongst those who do migrate. Yet there is almost no statistical evidence on how accurately these emigrants predict the incomes that they will earn working abroad. In this paper, we combine a natural emigration experiment with unique survey data on would-be emigrants’ probabilistic expectations about employment and incomes in the migration destination. Our procedure enables us to obtain moments and quantiles of the subjective distribution of expected earnings in the destination country. We find a significant under-estimation of both unconditional and conditional labor earnings at all points in the distribution for males, and reasonably accurate expectations for females. This under-estimation appears driven in part by inaccurate information flows from extended family, by basing expectations on older cohorts, and by differences in the gender wage premium between source and origin countries.

text: A land of milk and honey with streets paved with gold: Do emigrants have over-optimistic expectations about incomes abroad? Millions of people emigrate every year in search of better economic and social opportunities. Anecdotal evidence suggests that emigrants may have over-optimistic expectations about the incomes they can earn abroad, resulting in excessive migration pressure, and in disappointment amongst those who do migrate. Yet there is almost no statistical evidence on how accurately these emigrants predict the incomes that they will earn working abroad. In this paper, we combine a natural emigration experiment with unique survey data on would-be emigrants’ probabilistic expectations about employment and incomes in the migration destination. Our procedure enables us to obtain moments and quantiles of the subjective distribution of expected earnings in the destination country. We find a significant under-estimation of both unconditional and conditional labor earnings at all points in the distribution for males, and reasonably accurate expectations for females. This under-estimation appears driven in part by inaccurate information flows from extended family, by basing expectations on older cohorts, and by differences in the gender wage premium between source and origin countries.

year: 2013

title: Spat survival of Paphies ventricosa (Toheroa) in an aquaculture setting

authors: Chew, Martyn Andrew

abstract: The toheroa (Papris ventracosta) is a large intertidal surf cam endemic to New Zealand. This species has a long history with the people of New Zealand in both cultural and economic sense. Exploitation and environmental change have greatly diminished the wild stocks of these animals making a sustainable fishery no longer feasible. Aquaculture has been widely discussed as a potentially profitable option for this species due to its large size, esteemed taste and its social and cultural significance. Aquaculture of toheroa could generate many benefits for the people of the toheroa beaches, as aquaculture has done in other regions of New Zealand. However, the suitability of toheroa for aquaculture is largely unknown, with many questions needing to be answered before that can become a reality. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the environmental conditions which will support the successful cultivation of wild caught toheroa spat in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). This is done by answering questions around knowledge gaps in the biology of the animal. Three experiments were conducted on aspects of the animal’s environment and biology. The first experiment sought to identify the presence of microphytobenthos’s within the wild population beds of the toheroa. As evidence suggests from research conducted on other species, microphytobenthos is an essential part of the animal’s ecosystem which might be a necessary component of a successful spat rearing operation. The experiment showed elevated chlorophyll levels (a proxy for microphytobenthos) within toheroa beds relative to other areas of the beach. The second experiment compared survival and growth rates in sediment vs. non-sediment holding systems. The results of this study indicated the benefits of housing spat in sediments, as demonstrated by differences in measured growth and mortality. A third experiment sought to test for size dependent mortality rates within the RAS. Somewhat surprisingly, it was found that smaller toheroa (0-10mm) performed better within a system compared to larger ones (20-30). Larger toheroa tended to eject themselves from the sediment constantly, an act which may have compromised their growth and survivorship. The result of these experiments answered questions and raise many more.  Potentially through understanding these questions we can create tools which industry and conservation can use. This research show that successful toheroa spat can be successfully integrated into an aquaculture system. With mortality settling the animals feeding and showing healthy condition. However, the next stage would be to optimize this. Toheroa aquaculture being in its infancy requires a wide variety of research before considered feasible. However, results and observations made from this research can help in identifying and specializing future research objectives.

text: Spat survival of Paphies ventricosa (Toheroa) in an aquaculture setting The toheroa (Papris ventracosta) is a large intertidal surf cam endemic to New Zealand. This species has a long history with the people of New Zealand in both cultural and economic sense. Exploitation and environmental change have greatly diminished the wild stocks of these animals making a sustainable fishery no longer feasible. Aquaculture has been widely discussed as a potentially profitable option for this species due to its large size, esteemed taste and its social and cultural significance. Aquaculture of toheroa could generate many benefits for the people of the toheroa beaches, as aquaculture has done in other regions of New Zealand. However, the suitability of toheroa for aquaculture is largely unknown, with many questions needing to be answered before that can become a reality. The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the environmental conditions which will support the successful cultivation of wild caught toheroa spat in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). This is done by answering questions around knowledge gaps in the biology of the animal. Three experiments were conducted on aspects of the animal’s environment and biology. The first experiment sought to identify the presence of microphytobenthos’s within the wild population beds of the toheroa. As evidence suggests from research conducted on other species, microphytobenthos is an essential part of the animal’s ecosystem which might be a necessary component of a successful spat rearing operation. The experiment showed elevated chlorophyll levels (a proxy for microphytobenthos) within toheroa beds relative to other areas of the beach. The second experiment compared survival and growth rates in sediment vs. non-sediment holding systems. The results of this study indicated the benefits of housing spat in sediments, as demonstrated by differences in measured growth and mortality. A third experiment sought to test for size dependent mortality rates within the RAS. Somewhat surprisingly, it was found that smaller toheroa (0-10mm) performed better within a system compared to larger ones (20-30). Larger toheroa tended to eject themselves from the sediment constantly, an act which may have compromised their growth and survivorship. The result of these experiments answered questions and raise many more.  Potentially through understanding these questions we can create tools which industry and conservation can use. This research show that successful toheroa spat can be successfully integrated into an aquaculture system. With mortality settling the animals feeding and showing healthy condition. However, the next stage would be to optimize this. Toheroa aquaculture being in its infancy requires a wide variety of research before considered feasible. However, results and observations made from this research can help in identifying and specializing future research objectives.

year: 2022