1 The New Rural Economy Project: Bill Reimer nre.concordia.ca2006/10/27 Tom Beckley David Bruce Omer Chouinard Ivan Emke Greg Halseth Bruno Jean Patrice LeBlanc Dianne Looker Diane Martz Solange Nadeau John Parkins Steve Plante Doug Ramsey Richard Stedman Ellen Wall Derek Wilkinson Anna Woodrow

2 Making research work for you What’s exciting and/or useful? What’s exciting and/or useful?  What’s not? What’s clear? What’s clear?  What’s not? What’s missing? What’s missing? How can we improve? How can we improve? What do you need to know? What do you need to know?

3 Organization Integration Integration Services Services Communications Communications Governance Governance Environment and natural resource management Environment and natural resource management

4 What are the differences between the old and new economies? Old Economy Homogeneous culture Homogeneous culture Low knowledge demands Low knowledge demands Resource commodities Resource commodities Simple and repetitive Simple and repetitive Low mobility Low mobility Local relations important Local relations important New Economy Diverse cultures High knowledge demands Services and amenities Complex High mobility External relations important

5 How can rural Canada (re)vitalize? Identify the conditions that have contributed to devitalization Identify the conditions that have contributed to devitalization Organize assets and resources to do the things considered important Organize assets and resources to do the things considered important This ability to organize is: Capacity Capacity transforms assets into valued outcomes

6 ASSETS and LIABILITIES Economic Capital Human Skills and Abilities Social Capital Natural Resources OUTCOMES Economic wealth Social and political inclusion Social Cohesion Environmental security Social and self- worth Health Personal Security outcomes can become new assets and liabilities PROCESSES Market Bureaucratic Associative Communal

7 Market Associative Communal Bureaucratic Normative Systems Market-based: Contractual, short-term, supply and demand E.g. commerce, labour, housing, trade Bureaucratic-based: Rationalized roles, principles E.g. government, law, corporations Associative-based: Shared interests E.g. recreation, charity, religious groups Communal-based: Generalized reciprocity, identity, birth E.g. families, cultural groups, gangs

8 Cap-à-l’aigle

9 The NRE Sample Frame Low CapacityHigh Capacity LagLead LagLead Distant Adjac. Distant Adjac. Distant Adjac. Distant Adjac. Local Exposed Stable Fluctu- ating Stable Fluctu- ating Global Exposed

10 NRE…The Rural Observatory …an International Network

11 General Observations - 1 Rural Canada is diverse Rural Canada is diverse Primary industries are shedding labour Primary industries are shedding labour Manufacturing and services competitive Manufacturing and services competitive Environment more important Environment more important Knowledge-intensive employment growing Knowledge-intensive employment growing Communication and transportation price falling Communication and transportation price falling Youth leaving, families returning Youth leaving, families returning

12 General Observations - 2 Industry has concentrated Industry has concentrated Government services more centralized Government services more centralized Rural aging fastest Rural aging fastest Rural perceived as safe Rural perceived as safe Immigration strong Immigration strong Rural and urban Canada are interdependent Rural and urban Canada are interdependent Social capital is critical Social capital is critical

13 Social Capital Social capital is as important as human capital for key economic outcomes Social capital is as important as human capital for key economic outcomes Social capital is organized in different normative systems Social capital is organized in different normative systems Social capital most often used in combination Social capital most often used in combination Available social capital is not always used Available social capital is not always used Impacts of social capital vary by context Impacts of social capital vary by context Relationships, networks, and associated norms that facilitate collective action

14 Social Cohesion Perception and behavior-related social cohesion are not highly correlated Perception and behavior-related social cohesion are not highly correlated Relational types of social cohesion matter Relational types of social cohesion matter Social cohesion can mitigate economic challenges Social cohesion can mitigate economic challenges Social cohesion is not always under local control Social cohesion is not always under local control The extent to which people respond collectively to achieve their valued outcomes

15 The Informal Economy Supports the formal economy Supports the formal economy Primarily used by middle income people Primarily used by middle income people Strongly gendered Strongly gendered  Women participate more  Self-employment of women increases their burden but decreases it for men  But only for rural women – not for urban women

16 Services Service needs and delivery changing Service needs and delivery changing  Reducing and Regionalizing  Population shifts  Financial supports changing How have communities responded? How have communities responded?  Communication  Finances  Partnerships  Organization

17 Communications Cost of communication and transportation falling Cost of communication and transportation falling Presence of media doesn’t mean they are used Presence of media doesn’t mean they are used Locally-oriented communication remains important Locally-oriented communication remains important Communication requires multiple venues Communication requires multiple venues

18 Governance Local governance is more than government Local governance is more than government New governance = sharing of power, authority, information among municipal, private, civic sectors New governance = sharing of power, authority, information among municipal, private, civic sectors Leading sites: Leading sites:  Innovative reorganization of assets  Multiple uses of assets, multiple outcomes Local recognition of value of NGOs Local recognition of value of NGOs

19 Environment and Natural Resources Resource and land entitlements changing Resource and land entitlements changing Capacity in new conditions is challenging Capacity in new conditions is challenging External forces are dominant External forces are dominant Unit of analysis is critical Unit of analysis is critical Multiple ways to develop capacity Multiple ways to develop capacity

20 Building Capacity Capacity comes in many forms Capacity comes in many forms Available social capital is underutilized Available social capital is underutilized Modern technologies provide useful tools (but they need supports to build capacity) Modern technologies provide useful tools (but they need supports to build capacity) Government, private, civic sector alliances strengthen local capacity Government, private, civic sector alliances strengthen local capacity Service innovations help, but volunteer sector has limited capacity Service innovations help, but volunteer sector has limited capacity Context matters Context matters

21 The New Rural Economy Project: The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation nre.concordia.ca /10/27

22 Round Table Questions Introductions Introductions What are the 2 most important questions you have for the researchers? What are the 2 most important questions you have for the researchers? How are the answers likely to affect your decisions or actions? How are the answers likely to affect your decisions or actions? What more do you need to know? What more do you need to know?

23 Type of Social Capital used matters for HH Incomes Adj. R 2 =.37 Constant = $9102 N = 1697 Logged values for USE of social capital P <.05 Source: NRE HH survey, 2001 Total HH income Market, bureaucratic, communal, associative: indexes of types of social capital Education of the respondent HH Size: number of people in the household Return

24 Social relations most often used in combination NRE Household survey 2001; 1995 respondents Return

25 Available Social Capital is not always Used Correlation (r) Available Social Capital Used Social Capital MarketBureaucraticAssociativeCommunal Market.12**.22**.20**-.18** Bureaucratic.08**.14**.09**.09** Associative.21**.35**.28**.07** Communal.05* NRE HH Survey (N=1849) ** p<.01; * p<.05; Social Capital Used within 30 minutes of site Return

26 Context Matters (Metro Adjacency) Correlation (r) Available Social Capital Used Social Capital MarketBureaucraticAssociativeCommunal Market NAdj.36**.40**.43**-.31** Adj.-.09**-.08*-.07*-.16** Bureaucratic NAdj.19**.18**.18**ns Adj.nsnsns.13** Associative NAdj.42**.53**.52**-.22** Adj.ns.09**ns.17** Communal NAdj.11**.11**.14**ns Adj.-.18**-.08**-.22**ns NRE HH Survey (N=1849) ** p<.01; * p<.05; Social Capital Used within 30 minutes of site Return

27 Context Matters HH Income by Associative Social Capital and Global Exposure The use of social capital increases HH incomes …but not if exposure to the global economy is low Public expenditure on associative social capital will have higher impact in globally exposed sites NRE HH Survey 2001 (N=1698) Adj. R 2 =.04 Return

28 Perception vs. Behaviour-based Indicators MarketBureauAssoc.ComnlTotal Community Cohesion Psychol. Cohesion Attract- iveness Neighbour- liness All correlations significant at.01 level (2-tailed) NRE HH survey, 1995 respondents Return

29 Return SoCo and Household Changes

30 SoCo mitigates external context Fluctuating Economy Market- based SoCo Bureaucratic -based SoCo Average HH Income Global with Bureaucratic or Local with non- Bureaucratic -$7,000 +$4,500 -$680 +$2,000 External factors have significant effects Social cohesion can mitigate these effects The relations are often conditional $47,000 Return

31 SoCo not all under local control MarketBureau.Assoc.Comm.Variety Global Economy High Stable Economy Low Metro Adjacency Not Adjac. CapacityLow Return

32 Participation in the IE by Employment (social activities only) Employment Connects Nonemployment Isolates Return

33 Participation in the IE by Income Mid incomes participate most Return

34 Participation in the IE by Gender Return

35 IE by Employment and Gender Self- employment is additional burden for women Return

36 IE by Employment and Location (women only) Self- employment reduces burden for urban women only Return

37 % Media Used for Financial, Employment, or Living Changes Newspapers and Internet used most often for financial, employment, living changes NRE Household Sample – 1995 cases

38 Use of Media by HH Changes Finance/ Employmt/ Living Arrangment HealthChild care Home Care/ Education Personal achievment Newspaper *** TV ** Bulletins ** Radio * Books *** Magazines ** Internet ***** NRE Household Sample – 1995 cases