Michele Hoyman

It Takes a Village: A Test of the Creative Class, Social Capital and Human Capital Theories

Richard Florida argues that the “creative class” is inextricably connected with surges in urban growth. This article, using data from 276 metropolitan statistical areas, empirically tests the creative class theory as compared to the human and social capital models of economic growth. Our results demonstrate that the creative class is not related to growth, whereas human capital predicts economic growth and development and social capital predicts average wage but not job growth. Additionally, we found that clusters of universities correlated highly with economic growth. Our findings should warn policy makers against the use of “creative” strategies for urban economic development.

Participation in Local Unions: A Comparison of Black and White Members

This article compares the participation of black and white union members in their local unions. Using more detailed measures of union participation than those employed in earlier studies, and focusing on members, not just leaders, the authors find little difference between the extent of participation by blacks and that by whites. This surprising result, which contradicts the finding of previous studies that blacks participate in unions less than whites, holds even with controls for gender, salary, education, number of years as a member, the presence of friends in the union, the strength of a sense of efficacy, confidence in the ability to gain local union office, and the liberalness of attitudes about civil rights.

Issues and Prospects for the Study of Informal Economies: Concepts, Research Strategies, and Policy:

This article considers the current state of knowledge about informal economies. Criticism of the value of the informal economy concept is addressed by considering the multiple disciplinary interests in the topic, the confusion over an appropriate definition, and the problems of classification and explanation. A multidisciplinary, macro-micro approach is suggested. The joint ethnography-sruvey method has been found to be the most productive research tool for empirical study, and the principles of such methodology are outlined. In the context of a discussion on the politics of research funding, major areas for future research are identified. These include historical surveys; local-area studies; changing household work patterns in relation to the wider formal economy; informal work and illegal markets; class, ethnic, and sexual composition of the participants; informal institutions, particularly information and skill exchanges; media and their representation of the informal economy; and the role of informal economies in coping with national disasters. Finally, the implications of the informal economies for government policy on taxation, labor, welfare, and crime and criminal justice are drawn out.

The Changing of the Guard: The New American Labor Leader

This article analyzes recent changes in the leadership of international unions. There has been a trend toward leaders who are lifetime bureaucrats rather than rank-and-file members with charisma. This change toward more technocratic leadership is due to the different environment and new challenges that labor currently faces. The United Mine Workers is a good example of a union that has had many changes in the type of person who has become president, from the labor giant John L. Lewis to the 33-year-old lawyer Richard Trumka. The United Auto Workers is an example of a union whose leadership has been consistently drawn from the union hierarchy. The AFL-CIO has made a change in leadership from George Meany to the labor bureaucrat Lane Kirkland. There will probably be an increase in the number of women and minorities in top leadership positions in unions, but this will be a gradual increase.

Considering the Role of Social Capital for Economic Development Outcomes in U.S. Counties

The authors examine major aspects of the connection between social capital and economic development in U.S. counties. They test the conclusions of Putnam, who saw associations as a force for positive development, and Olson, who concluded the opposite. The authors find that Putnam organizations have a negative effect on income, while Olson organizations have a positive effect by decreasing levels of income inequality. Drawing on the literature distinguishing between bridging versus bonding, the authors show that bridging capital has a positive effect on development by increasing per capita income, while bonding capital has a neutral effect on both per capita income and income inequality. Finally, religious variables are tested for their relationship with economic development. Overall, congregation density has a negative influence by increasing per capita income and income inequality, controlling for geographic type. Congregations with bridging characteristics have a mixed effect on development by decreasing income and decreasing inequality.

The Evolution of Ecotourism: The Story of the Galapagos Islands and the Special Law of 1998

Public policies designed to encourage ecotourism in the Galapagos Islands have evolved in the decades since the islands became center stage in the international dialogue about environmental conservation. One of the most important pieces of legislation that regulates how the islands’ governments should balance economic development and environmental preservation is the Special Law of 1998. This chapter examines the unique historical, political, and economic factors that ultimately shaped the policies included in the Special Law. The authors examine the effectiveness and impacts of the law using the lens of local public and nonprofit leaders who were surveyed about ecotourism regulations in July 2011. The results show that although Galapagos leaders generally supported regulations designed around sustainable development, they were not as uniformly positive about the implementation and effectiveness of the Special Law.

Assembling the Puzzle of the Nonprofit-Economic Development Linkage

Abstract This study seeks to quantify the impact of the nonprofit sector on economic development by more clearly defining the diverse roles that nonprofits may play in development – instrumental, expressive, and connective. We begin by summarizing existing research on nonprofit organizations and economic development. Using secondary data, we test our model in 360 U.S. metropolitan areas for the years 2001–2006. Do nonprofit organizations produce economic growth? Our statistical findings suggest, “Not really” and “It depends.” While some forms of nonprofit organizations (business associations) are positively related to growth, others such as congregations and social and fraternal associations may have a dampening effect. Overall, our findings suggest complex relationships between individual forms of capital, organizational structures, and development that may be place and time dependent. While our findings currently provide little guidance for policy makers attempting to promote economic development, our findings do have important implications for nonprofit and public policy scholars. Any attempt to explore the relationship between nonprofit activity and development must untangle indicators of individual behavior (church attendance or census return rates) from indicators of organizational structures (such as the number of specific organizations). Second, any effort to understand the impact of the nonprofit sector should disaggregate sector measures based upon a conceptual understanding of the diverse roles of various organizational types (for example, human service organizations versus social and fraternal organizations). Finally, growth and development and the role of the sector are contextual, exhibiting significant regional and temporal variation.

Do Unions Punish Democrats? Free-Trade Votes and Labor PAC Contributions, 1999–2012

This article examines whether labor unions punish incumbent Democrats who vote for free-trade bills in Congress. We theorize that punishment is a risky strategy for interest groups that prefer one party over the other. Therefore, interest groups must be substantially affected by decline in party support to punish. Consistent with our theory, we find important differences between public- and private-sector unions in their willingness to punish. Although public-sector unions articulate opposition to free trade, they do not follow through with either deterrence (withholding contributions to send a signal) or incapacitation (withholding contributions to replace the wayward candidate with a more supportive one). Private-sector unions, specifically unions that organize trade-vulnerable industrial workers, do attempt to punish Democrats via deterrence. The estimated deterrence effect is a 6 percent reduction in contributions. This study improves on previous studies by modeling punishment across several congressional sessions and multiple trade votes. The results reveal new insights into labor’s approach to declining protectionism among congressional Democrats.