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Essays in Social Networks and Urban Development
Başlık:
Essays in Social Networks and Urban Development
Yazar:
Ramsawak, Richard, author.
ISBN:
9780438024786
Yazar Ek Girişi:
Fiziksel Tanımlama:
1 electronic resource (224 pages)
Genel Not:
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 79-10(E), Section: A.
Advisors: Wayne Gray Committee members: David Cuberes; Magda Tsaneva.
Özet:
This thesis is a collection of three essays in the areas of social networks, and urban development. Chapter 1 examines the relationships between investment in family (bonding) and non-family (bridging) networks and economic outcomes among households operating in rural India. Results of primary and secondary models point to a positive association between measures of social capital and micro-enterprise performance. Specifically, after controlling for district and household fixed effects, I find greater network diversity to be associated with higher overall earnings. Not surprisingly, investments in family-and-caste-based associations (bonding capital) tend to be associated with higher farm income, adoption of agriculture-based technologies, greater collaboration, with lower probability of reported conflict among households. Interestingly, membership in family-and caste-based associations also is positively associated with the number of businesses, which reinforces findings from authors such that business development stems primarily from family-and/or caste-based networks in rural India. Additionally, membership in family/caste associations and diversity of networks were found to be positively associated with access to formal and informal credits. In terms of caste specific effects, I find households classified as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCSTs), with more diversified networks to be associated with higher business income and lower farm income. In the case of marginalized non-Hindu groups such as Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs, which invest in family-based networks (bonding capital achieve) higher than average returns on farm income, greater than 18 percent in terms of earnings. Finally, I find average age and educational level of the head of household, as well as community level social capital to be key predictors of individual level investments in social capital.
Chapter 2 examines the relationship between climate shocks and investments in social network relationships. I leverage fluctuating long run precipitation patterns across India, to estimate the impact of lagged and long run average negative precipitation anomalies on social network relationships. In so doing I attempt to disentangle "direct" and "indirect" informational impacts of climate shocks on investments in social networks. I find that households which experience higher average negative precipitation shocks tend to invest more in family-caste (formal and informal) and vertical network relationships. These network relationships were also found to be associated with greater access to financial credit, credit accessed specifically from family members, higher reported collaboration, more diversified businesses, and use of private irrigation technologies, all of which are key to mitigating the negative impacts of climate shocks. Investments in linked networks were found to be lower among households living in villages dominated by Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCSTs). Interestingly, villages dominated by High Caste (HC) grouping also recorded marginally lower investments in vertical linkage networks, in response to climate impacts. Interestingly, villages with higher levels average income, and households which were reported to be landowners, were found to have higher investments in linked networks relative to other members of the sample. This suggests that wealth rather than caste status would be key for a household's ability to access linked networks. Non-family-based or bridging networks were also found to be negatively impacted by repeated negative precipitation shocks. Interestingly, investments in linked networks were also found to be much lower among households living in villages with lower average village income. Finally, I leverage household proximity to large dams to determine the extent the presence of large dams may reduce risks of climate shocks and lower a household's incentive to invest in social network relationships. Based on results of fixed effects and difference in difference estimation, I find the presence of large dams to have a positive impact on households investment in social network relationships. However, for households located in areas that experience higher average negative precipitation shocks, which are also in close proximity to large dams, investments in social networks are found to be significantly lower.
Finally, Chapter 3 utilizes recently published U.S. Census data covering the pre-and post-Great Recession period (1990 to 2015) to identify key determinants of growth and resiliency among small, and mid-sized urban places in the New England Region. Growth rates in population and income levels are found to vary significantly relative to city/town size, which leads us to reject random growth theories. I find robust evidence of beta-convergence in growth among urban places, indicating that smaller urban areas tend to experience faster rates of growth than larger ones, over both the short and long term. Factors such as distance to large city areas and amenities are found to be particularly relevant to explain population growth rates. For income growth, having a diverse industrial base, high levels of well qualified resident human capital, and proximity to large urban areas are positively related to income growth and recovery after the Great recession. I also find evidence of positive and significant spatial effects in population and income growth rates. This indicates the presence of "spillover" effects in growth among neighboring urban regions. Finally, these results are found to be consistent and robust to alternative specifications and varied estimation techniques such as Instrumental Variables (IV), Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM), Fixed Effects and Dynamic panel models. These results highlight the importance of policy geared to increase industrial diversity, and also highlights the importance of building, retaining and attracting quality human capital to urban areas.
Notlar:
School code: 0048
Konu Başlığı:
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Yer Numarası | Demirbaş Numarası | Shelf Location | Lokasyon / Statüsü / İade Tarihi |
---|---|---|---|
XX(682329.1) | 682329-1001 | Proquest E-Tez Koleksiyonu | Arıyor... |
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