VTechWorks Repository :: Browsing by Author "Flora, Jan L."

Browsing by Author "Flora, Jan L."

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Adaptación al cambio climático y de mercado en comunidades del Altiplano: Estudio de caso de la comunidad de Santa María
Turín, Cecilia; Cóndor, Pedro; Flora, Cornelia B.; Flora, Jan L. (2007)
Presentation of the case study research that is being conducted in the Community of Santa Maria in Peru within the objectives of SANREM-CRSP LTR-4 project "Adapting to climate and market change in Altiplano communities".
Adapting to climate change in vulnerable communities in the Andes: Advocacy coalitions
Flora, Cornelia B.; Flora, Jan L.; Fernández-Baca, Edith (2009)
A presentation about the research on advocacy coalitions being conducted in the Peruvian Andes as part of the SANREM LTR-4 project:
The advocacy coalition framework: A theoretical frame for SANREM to address policy change and learning
Flora, Cornelia B.; Flora, Jan L.; Campana, F.; Fernández-Baca, Edith (Watkinsville, Ga.: SANREM CRSP, 2001)
The everyday activities of individuals and communities are generally channeled and limited by decisions about resource allocation and regulation that are taken beyond the local level. These decisions may or may not be contested and the "beneficiaries" of those decisions may or may not be aware of them. Further, these decisions are made not only by governments, but also by corporations and non-governmental organizations. Information is always used to justify those decisions, but it is often sought after the decision to validate the course taken rather than before the decision to inform it.
Capital, community and collective action: Social foundations of sustainability in an Andean buffer zone (Ecuador)
Flora, Jan L. (Watkinsville, Ga.: SANREM CRSP, 2002)
Development approaches have traditionally emphasized material resources, ignoring the less tangible forms of capital. But sustainable development, especially in relation to land use and production systems, calls for an integration of environmental, economic, human, and social capital. Emphasis on only one type of capital can in fact undermine sustainability. By examining the interaction of different kinds of capital in four buffer zone communities, the study identifies features of economic, social, and political organization that are positively related with the potential for building environmental capital.
Coaliciones de persuasión, los capitales y investigación - acción participativa
Flora, Cornelia B.; Flora, Jan L. (2006)
An explanation of the various capitals and their relationship with a healthy ecosystem, social equity and vital economy. It also explains the importance of the research process in achieving negotiation capabilities and the better use of natural resources within communities. A conceptual framework for coalition building shows it as a tool of support that allows the easily identification of the actors involved in the decision making process. The latter is recognized for improving capabilities of producers to make alliances.
Communautés Rurales, Agricultures et Développement Durable
Flora, Cornelia B.; Flora, Jan L. (2008)
A presentation in France about Hispanic immigrant population contribution to rural development in Iowa, USA.
Creating local and national capacity for integrated conservation and development projects
Flora, Jan L. (Athens, GA: SANREM CRSP and CARE-SUBIR, 2001)
This chapter overviews the issues related to developing local and national institutional capacity for orchestrating integrated conservation and development projects - arguably the most difficult aspect of implementing ICDP.
Disarticulated agricultural growth: a comparative study of two Chilean regions
Gacitúa Marió, Estanislao A. (Virginia Tech, 1992-12-15)
During the last twenty years, Chilean agriculture has experienced unequaled modernization and growth. The uneven character of this process shows that economic development and the expansion of some agricultural sub-sectors can be associated with the absolute and relative increase of poverty, particularly in rural areas. This dissertation postulates that the disarticulated nature of the accumulation pattern has impeded the achievement of sustained national growth and social equity, as well as threatened the preservation of national food security. This study explains the disarticulated character of Chilean agricultural growth during the last 25 years, analyzes the effects that disarticulation has on national food production and consumption levels, and attempts to advance some policy alternatives. An important contribution of this dissertation is to interpret the ongoing process of regional differentiation in Chilean agriculture through the analytical framework of disarticulated growth. The results of this study indicate that decreasing disarticulation requires restructuring of the prevalent accumulation pattern. Otherwise, alternative policy instruments would not accomplish the goals of growth, equity, and sustainability. The development of the agricultural export sector is nut contradictory to the achievement of sustainability and equity. In fact the expansion of the export sector could contribute to the articulation of the economy. However, this would require a shift in the investment priorities and increasing state support to the annual crops and livestock sub-sectors, particularly to the campesino producers. At the same time, investment in the agroexport sector would have to shift from expanding production via incorporation of new lands to increasing productivity and overall increasing the value of the products. That is, investment would have to be geared toward agroindustrial processes that would add value to the unprocessed agricultural commodities that are currently exported. Finally, sectoral and macroeconomic policy should contribute to internal expansion by increasing employment and minimum wage levels.
The effects of agricultural price policies on the funding of agricultural research: Chile 1960-1988
Ortiz, Jaime (Virginia Tech, 1993)
Chilean governments have simultaneously used a combination of price policies and expenditures on agricultural research in their efforts to enhance the performance of the agricultural sector. These two policy instruments, under changing political environments, have had important distributional implications for agricultural producers and consumers. Neglecting the interactions between these instruments may have distorted the measurement of research benefits. This dissertation examines the implications of agricultural price policies on the funding of public agricultural research. A political-economy framework allows for the interactions between producers and consumers/taxpayers in affecting policy formation. The welfare effects on each interest group are identified. Agricultural price policies and research expenditures on beef, wheat, milk, apples, and grapes are considered within a simultaneous system of supply, demand, price and research policy equations. Economic and political considerations determine the choice between direct price policies and public research expenditures. Results conform to theoretical expectations that the level and distribution of public research investments are affected by agricultural price policies. The implications derived from these results are that policies can be made more effective if decision-makers consider the complementarity or substitutability of these policy instruments. Agricultural production was influenced by direct price policies and by domestic agricultural research and foreign technology transfers. Publicly-sponsored agricultural research in Chile has had positive economic returns. The benefits to research, however, would have been larger if distorting price policies had not been present.
Effects of organizational leadership style on organizational and community capacity: Indigenous secondary local level organizations in Ecuador
Flora, Jan L.; Carrol, T.; Cobo, A. (2001)
The analysis in this presentation relates indicators of social capital and organizational capacity in four secondary-level indigenous organizations (SLOs) in Ecuador to similar variables in a sample of twenty communities that are dependent upon those secondary organizations. Results suggest that a more flexible but efficient organizational structure, rather than a bureaucratic, top-down approach by the encompassing secondary-level organization is more propitious for the development of intra- and inter-community cooperation, reduces internal conflicts within the communities and further contributes to satisfaction with service delivery in the communities. The approach however does not seem to have much effect on the development of social capital at the community level, suggesting that SLOs may need to be more overt in their collaboration with member communities in a common effort to strengthen the latter's social capital and organizational capacity. Interestingly, a more top-down bureaucratic approach by the SLO generates more conflict at the local level, thereby apparently opening up leadership opportunities for new residents, old people, and women in particular. There is need to explore this unanticipated consequence more fully and to determine if there are alternative ways of encouraging more inclusive community leadership.
Effects of tourism-related cooperatives on community development in Appalachia
McGehee, Nancy G. (Virginia Tech, 1994)
Rising poverty rates, increases in joblessness, and the depletion of traditional means of livelihood (such as agriculture and large industry), are all forces working to diminish the ability for the rural Appalachian to make a living (Appalachian Regional Commission, 1993). Many rural development professionals interested in cultivating new options are including the concept of the cooperative as a tool for economic development. However, there is some controversy over whether the cooperative form of organization is an optimal method of economic development for rural America. The same had been said about tourism as a contributor to economic development. This thesis uses case study analysis to examine three current cooperatives and their contributions to the community, using a Weberian lens of formal versus substantive rationality. Results indicated a tentative relationship between amount and type of contributions of the tourism-related cooperative organization and type of rationality for its existence.
Free riding, contribution behavior, and public goods: the case of the Virginia nongame wildlife tax checkoff
Ferguson, James Montgomery (Virginia Tech, 1990-07-23)
This study examines the free rider effect and other voluntary contribution behavior in an actual public goods funding situation. Because the traditional neoclassical economic model of consumption behavior does not adequately explain behavior with respect to voluntary contribution to the funding of public goods. A model is developed that expands upon the traditional model and which incorporates several aspects of behavior. These aspects include strategic behavior such as strong and weak free riding, non-voting, and protest voting, as well as utility received from contributing. Most studies of voluntary contribution behavior involve the use of hypothetical or contingent markets and use the traditional neoclassical model. Therefore, a study of contribution behavior that incorporates an expanded neoclassical model including factors such as contribution utility would be desirable in order to examine actual contribution behavior. To this end, a model is developed which explains the behavior of contributors and noncontributors to a tax checkoff program. The case study is the Virginia nongame wildlife tax checkoff for taxable year 1987. A survey was developed and administered to a random sample of Virginia taxpayers who were eligible to contribute to the program. The survey results do not support the strong free rider hypothesis, although many people apparently contributed less than their total willingness to pay for nongame wildlife management or preservation. Non-voting behavior was not a significant factor, in contrast to protest voting, which was a significant reason for noncontribution. Many contributors indicated that they were receiving utility from giving to a perceived good cause rather than from nongame wildlife per se. Finally, other factors appeared to be important to the contribution decision, including the institutional setting in Virginia and assurance about the use of funds.
Globalización, modos de vida, y comunidad rural en América Latina
Flora, Jan L.; Flora, Cornelia B.; Gotrett, M. A. (2007)
A presentation about how globalization affects livelihoods and rural communities in Latin America.
Identification of Criteria for Delivery of Theological Education Through Distance Education: An International Delphi Study
Seevers, Gary L. Jr. (Virginia Tech, 1993-04-09)
Distance education is one means of delivering theological education which is being used increasingly. This delivery method is particularly helpful to nontraditional students who desire higher education but who cannot leave family and work commitments for residential study. For some in both developing and developed countries, distance education is the only route open to higher theological education. Criteria for assessing effective delivery of distance education have not been established in the literature. The purpose of this study was to identify such criteria. Data were collected with a three-round Delphi from an international panel of seventy-four members comprised of denominational and non-denominational educational administrators and distance educators, denominational district representatives, accreditation representatives, and adult education representatives. Two pilot studies were conducted to test the questions used for round one. Criteria statements were retained if they were deemed "important" or "very important" by at least 80 percent of the respondents on rounds two and three. The panel's responses were found to be independent of respondent location--national or international--and the category of the respondent's group membership. The findings of the study led to the identification of a set of thirty-one criteria in eight categories which may be useful for evaluating existing distance education programs or guiding the development of new programs. The eight categories were ethical concerns, commitment, curriculum, evaluation, support, technology, feedback, and faculty. There was a 100 percent consensus in rating these thirty-one criteria as "important" or "very important" by the panel members.
The influence of perceived employment opportunities on educational performance in Appalachia
Broomhall, David E. (Virginia Tech, 1991-08-26)
The purpose of this study is to analyze the process of education in central Appalachia. Persistent economic and social problems in the region such as unemployment, low average incomes, low educational attainment, and widespread poverty have defied solution. This study uses primary data from high school-aged youths and their parents' in four rural school districts in Appalachia to examine incentive structures which encourage, or discourage, individuals from obtaining education. The study evaluates a number of influences on the value that individuals place on education including community and employer influences, the willingness of youths to relocate to obtain employment, and the perception of employment opportunities in the local community. The study also examines inter-generational aspects of educational behavior by analyzing the influence of socioeconomic background, and parental attitudes and values, on the attitudes and values of their children. The findings indicate that socioeconomic background, and parental and community influences have a significant impact on educational behavior in Appalachia.
Integrated Conservation and Development in Tropical America: Experiences and Lessons in Linking Communities, Projects, and Policies
Rhoades, Robert E.; Stallings, J. (ed.) (Athens, Ga.: SANREM CRSP and CARE-SUBIR, 2001)
Is migration a solution to the earnings loss of the displaced workers in the segmented labor market in the U.S.?
Hoe, Ruan (Virginia Tech, 1994-06-16)
Earnings loss due to both lower wages at the current job and the time forgone between two jobs is one of the major consequences of job displacement caused by plant closing, moving and downsizing in the 1980s. Is migration a solution? The present study attempts to answer this question empirically by exploring five waves of data on the displaced manufacturing workers from the CPS Displaced Workers Supplements. Human capital theory and neo-classica1 theory of labor migration both assert that migration should improve people's socio-economic status. They largely neglect social and economic structural constraints on the outcomes of individual behavior. From the dynamic segmentation perspective, this study hypothesizes that deindustrialization has been squeezing workers from the subordinate (lower-tier) primary segment down and thus such workers suffered more loss than their counterparts from the independent (upper-tier) segment; since deindustrialization primarily affected the core manufacturing industries, core workers suffered greater loss from displacement relative to their peripheral counterparts. In this context, this study further hypothesizes that migration will not benefit the workers from the subordinate primary segment as much as the workers from the independent primary segments. The empirical results confirm the main hypotheses of the present study: Workers displaced from the subordinate primary segment suffered more earnings loss and longer jobless duration than their counterparts from the independent primary segment. Workers from the core industries experienced longer jobless duration than their counterparts from the peripheral segment. Migration had no effect on the postdisplacement earnings and jobless duration for the displaced workers from either segment. The clear implication of these findings is that migration is no solution. Among other things, occupation/industry change when reemployed is an important factor causing earnings loss; formal educational attainment reduces earnings loss and shortens the jobless duration while work tenure on the pre-displacement job increases earnings loss and lengthens the jobless duration.
La Conservación y el desarrollo integrado: Lecciones aprendidas al vincular pueblos, proyectos y políticas en América tropical
Rhoades, Robert E.; Stallings, J. (ed.) (Quito, Ecuador: Abya Yala Publicaciones, 2003)
El Programa de Conservación y Desarrollo Integrado (ICDP) surgió a mediados de los 80 como una estrategia dual para asegurar la protección ambiental y el manejo de áreas protegidas a largo plazo, mientras de mejoraba simultáneamente la calidad de vida de quienes residen en ellas o en las zonas límite.Sin embargo, en la práctica, esta unión entre pueblos y ambientes no surgió sin problemas reales y negociaciones.
Labor allocation decisions of Virginia's farm families
Nelson, James H. (Virginia Tech, 1992-12-04)
Using data collected by the Virginia Agricultural Statistical Service in 1989, off-farm labor participation models were developed to identify factors that influence the probability that a farm operator or spouse in Virginia would choose to work off the farm. The sample indicated that a substantial proportion of Virginia farms had at least one member working off the farm. Higher total incomes were also earned by families with an operator and/or spouse working off the farm. In addition, the proportion of total income originating from off-farm sources was large regardless of whether the operator or spouse worked off the farm or not. As a result of this survey, the picture developed of farm operators and spouses in Virginia is different than a traditional view of farming would support. Because of the dichotomous dependent variable and the different responses expected from the operator and spouse, probit analysis was selected to estimate separate participation models for the farm operator and spouse. The empirical results reveal that human capital, labor supply and labor demand characteristics influence the off-farm employment decisions of both the operator and spouse, though not in a uniform manner. Additionally, variables found to be important to off-farm labor force participation were primarily not farm specific. Changes in the non-farm economy are expected to affect the majority of Virginia farms more than changes in the farm economy. It is also clear that the majority of farm families in Virginia have a vested interest in efforts made to develop and strengthen the local economy.
Labor processes within a commodity system: a comparative study of workers in apple packing houses
Bello Barros, Rosario (Virginia Tech, 1993-04-19)
This study is a comparative analysis of how two forms of capitalist production intersect with gender to shape the labor process in apple packing houses of Virginia, United States and the VI Region, Chile. It illustrates how differences in growers' production systems, as well as traditional undervaluation of women's work, shape the organization of the apple-packing workplace. A theoretical framework based on the notion of labor processes was developed to study growers' farming systems and their use and management of labor. Production is conceptualized as a system based upon the relation of labor process and value-creating process. The study focused on two interrelated dimensions: 1) production as difference between exchange and use value and 2) the intersection of gender inequality and capital and its effects on the organization of the workplace and on women's ability to increase control and autonomy. Five apple farms were selected in each of two regions - one in Chile and the other in the United States. From these farms one hundred-twenty workers were chosen to be interviewed by stratified random sampling. In addition, the farm operator of each farm was interviewed. Labor in both regions is gendered and tightly controlled. However, the manner in which sample growers approach gender relations and the nature of labor control mechanisms differ from one region to the other. Such differences are associated with the type of production systems, the degree of articulation of farming systems with the modern economy, the type of ownership, the relation the owner had with the workers, and traditional undervaluing of women’s’ work expressed in wage differential according to gender and job segmentation. Explanations that propose an association between women’s income and autonomy are inadequate. First, women often worked because their family demanded that they do so, and, second, the type of work done by women in packing houses does not increase their economic power relative to men because a) the majority earn less than men, b) women’s packing-house work is commonly viewed as an extension of women’s housework, and c) women themselves think of their wage-work contribution as secondary and supplemental. Although women’s work choices are prediucpoan treeasdon s other than personal satisfaction, the majority value the possibility of meeting other women at work. Understandiwnhgy women enter packing-house employment needs to go beyond questioning women whether they do or do not need to work for wages. Explanations of how the contradictions in women’s roles and attitudes affect how labor power is reproduced within the workplace are needed when addressing gender and work.

Browsing by Author "Flora, Jan L."

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