Missing Sticks: Property Institutions and Income Dissipation in Indian Country

Russ, Jacob W.; Stratmann, Thomas

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2536597

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 19 publications

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“…Scholars have suggested that institutional barriers, including the federal trust system and direct federal involvement in day-to-day governance, raise transaction costs and hinder economic development on Native American reservations (McChesney, 1990; Cornell and Kalt, 1995a; Anderson and Parker, 2006, 2008, 2009; Kalt et al , 2008; Akee and Jorgensen, 2014; Regan and Anderson, 2014; Russ and Stratmann, 2014; Lofthouse, 2019). Those institutional barriers certainly play a role in the poverty puzzle, but scholars and policymakers have underemphasized the nuanced interactions between institutions, culture and entrepreneurship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture and Native American economic development

Lofthouse

2019

JEPP

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how culture affects economic development on Native American reservations by examining how culture directs the attention of entrepreneurs and interacts with formal governance institutions. Design/methodology/approach This paper combines theoretical insights from economic sociology, market process economics and institutional economics as a basis to evaluate entrepreneurship and economic development on Native American reservations. Culture, as a web of social meanings, shapes what opportunities entrepreneurs are alert to, influences how they perceive transaction costs and determines whether institutions achieve their intended ends. Historical and contemporary case studies are used to build analytical narratives to corroborate the theoretical approach. Findings The federal government has imposed many formal institutions on reservations, which have disrupted traditional governance and property rights structures. If formal institutions do not comport with the underlying culture, those institutions do not facilitate positive entrepreneurship and economic growth. Despite the barriers, entrepreneurs across several reservations have leveraged their cultural and social ties to create robust informal economies. In some cases, imposed institutions have fostered rent-seeking and have given rise to a culture of rent-seeking. Research limitations/implications This paper looks at Native American entrepreneurship and institutions in the broadest sense. However, there is a large amount of diversity within the cultural and governance structures of Native American communities. Future research could examine specific tribes or reservations in more detail. Practical implications This paper elucidates cultural and institutional barriers to productive entrepreneurship on Native American lands. Policymakers must understand these root causes if they are to facilitate economic growth. Originality/value This paper’s combination of theoretical perspectives helps explain the widespread economic development issues on Native American lands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture and Native American economic development

Lofthouse

2019

JEPP

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The Intergenerational Legacy of Indian Residential Schools

Jones

2024

Demography

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From the late nineteenth century until the end of the twentieth century, the Canadian government collaborated with Christian churches to operate a network of boarding schools for Indigenous children to culturally and economically assimilate them. These children were taken from their families and placed into residential schools, where they were to be assimilated into the Eurocentric culture of the dominant society. Using a unique restricted-access database that asked Indigenous respondents about their family history with residential schools, in addition to questions on socioeconomic outcomes, I study the intergenerational effects of these schools. Despite previous research showing that residential schools increased human capital accumulation among attendees, I find that residential schools are associated with lower educational attainment among subsequent generations. I present evidence consistent with the notion that both cultural detachment and a breakdown in family relationships contributed to a reversal of the standard relationship between parents’ and children's human capital. Encouragingly, I find suggestive evidence that greater access to cultural centers might buffer the harmful legacy of this historical trauma.

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Creeping Normalcy: Fractionation of Indian Land Ownership

Russ

Stratmann

2013

SSRN Journal

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In 1992 the General Accounting Office (GAO) published a quantitative survey of Indian land ownership of twelve reservations, which was the first and still is the only survey of Indian land ownership. In our study we use 2010 data to show how ownership fractionation for these reservations has changed since the original GAO study. We find that, despite the whole of Congressional action regarding land fractionation, and the US Bureau of Indian Affairs' (BIA's) land consolidation programs, fractionation has not only continued, but BIA's complex recordkeeping workload has nearly doubled for the twelve reservations over the eighteen year interval. The GAO estimated that BIA's annual recordkeeping costs for these twelve reservations was between $40 and $50 million. With the addition of over a million new ownership records, due to fractionation, we estimate yearly recordkeeping costs have increased to $246 million in 2010. JEL-Code: O100, Y100.

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Missing Sticks: Property Institutions and Income Dissipation in Indian Country

Cited by 3 publications

References 19 publications

Culture and Native American economic development

Culture and Native American economic development

The Intergenerational Legacy of Indian Residential Schools

Creeping Normalcy: Fractionation of Indian Land Ownership

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