Wayne Edwards

Small moves in a big place: migration as a preference signal

Abstract Alaska is a state with high rates of both internal and external migration. This paper focuses on internal migration and place-level economic characteristics to establish migration as a preference signal. The Migration Preference Indices and Douglas well-being measures calculated from Census data reveal a connection between migration and place-level well-being.

Rigidities, Living Conditions, and Institutions in the Far North

The remoteness and geography of Alaska create service access rigidities that are difficult to overcome. The delivery of basic services like healthcare, police protection, and justice are often inadequate in rural places. The continued employment of neoclassical assumptions in policy making is a primary reason policies fail to overcome the barriers. A broader scope of analysis can inform the issues faced by rural residents and provide insight into alternate solutions.

Institutions and Values: A Methodological Inquiry

Abstract: Economics entails a study of institutions regardless of the school of thought, and it is inherently an analysis of institutional transformation with a vision toward creating positive social change through economic arrangements. However, the conceptions of institutions, identity of individuals, human nature as it pertains to economics, identification of the economic sphere, its concerns, and studying its evolution, all vary substantively across schools of thought. We examine the following issues: (i) the differences in the ontological identity of the individual between heterodox approaches, new institutional economics (NIE), and the neoclassical school; (ii) the central point of divergence between original institutional economics (OIE) and NIE, despite both schools being committed to the project of an “institutionally” centered approach to economics; and (iii) the absence of a cohesive project to explore foundational theoretical congruencies among those heterodox approaches that have a shared vision, values, and a common ontological identity of socially embedded people.

Service Access Rigidities in Rural Alaska

Access to basic services such as health care, the court system, and police protection is vital to individual and social well-being. If barriers exist that prevent people from receiving fundamental services, the quality of their lives is diminished. In the aggregation, society as a whole suffers when some of its members fail to receive services, making access barriers a prominent policy issue concerning the government at national, regional (state), and local levels.

Divergent Outcomes of Land Rights Claims of Indigenous Peoples in the United States

Land is one of the most important, valuable, and versatile assets in human endeavor. The ability of a party to own land enhances its opportunity for economic growth and wealth acquisition in many ways including through resource extraction, agricultural production, and as use for collateral to finance economic projects. Land also provides a physical place for people to exist momentarily or over time, the latter affording the opportunity for the development of cultural identity and the accumulation of a people’s history. The value of land, therefore, can be evaluated in many ways and its market value represents only a portion of its meaning to the people who inhabit it.