Doctoral Dissertation Research: Effects of Natural Resource Dependence

这个项目调查了一个对一些社区至关重要的问题，即在依赖自然资源开采和依赖替代发展形式之间的选择。几十年来，美国自然资源使用的采掘形式一直在减少。取而代之的是，非采掘形式的自然资源开发，如旅游、户外娱乐和市容开发，已成为一个可能的新方向。在这个项目中，分析了这些替代路径与经济结果之间的关系，包括经济增长、贫困和机会。其目的是了解特定战略以及战略之间的变化何时以及如何有益。调查结果将为美国这些地区的决策提供参考，从而提高国民福利。该项目的数据来自美国人口普查、美国社区调查和经济分析局1970年至2017年美国相关县的数据。在分析中，将使用空间固定效应计量模型检验和比较县级可开采和非可开采自然资源开发对收入增长、贫困和机会的历史影响，以评估自然资源开发如何影响收入及其随时间的分配。这些模型将被用来确定依赖的经验阈值，以便对采掘依赖、非采掘依赖和混合(即采掘和非采掘)依赖进行分类。随后，将对采掘型和非采掘型自然资源依赖型国家的社会经济福祉的趋势和转变进行评估。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project investigates an issue of central importance to some communities, the choice between reliance on natural resource extraction versus reliance on alternative forms of development. Extractive forms of natural resource use have been declining in the United States for decades. In their place, non-extractive forms of natural resource development such as tourism, outdoor recreation, and amenity development have emerged as a possible new direction. In this project, the relationship between these alternative paths and economic outcomes including economic growth, poverty, and opportunity is analyzed. The object is to see when and how particular strategies as well as change between strategies are beneficial. Findings will inform decision making concerning these areas of the United States and so will enhance national welfare.Data for this project come from combining U.S. Census, American Community Survey, and Bureau of Economic Analysis data for relevant counties in the United States from 1970 to 2017. In the analysis, the historical effect of county-level extractive and non-extractive natural resource development on income growth, poverty, and opportunity will be tested and compared using spatial fixed-effects econometric models to provide an evaluation of how natural resource development affects income and its distribution over time. These models will be used to identify empirical thresholds of dependence in order to develop classifications of extractive, non-extractive, and hybrid (i.e., both extractive and non-extractive) dependence. Subsequently, trends and transitions in socioeconomic well-being will be evaluated for extractive and non-extractive natural resource dependent counties.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.