Community Economic Development Dissertations
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The mission of the Community Economic Development program is to build better practices and policies that serve low-income and marginalized communities around the globe. Community economic development gives people control over their economic futures by developing leadership in the poorest communities and eliminating the apathy that can result from generations of poverty and neglect.
The dissertation collection is focused on original research and skills to shape policy at local, regional, national or international levels. Students specialized in one concentration in Community Economic Development (theory, policy, or management).
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Browsing Community Economic Development Dissertations by Author "Clamp, Christina"
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Item Brownfields redevelopment : voices from the community economic development movement(Southern New Hampshire University, 2006) Omwenga, Marucha; Clamp, Christina; Swack, Michael; Barresi, PaulThis was research was undertaken to understand the framing of brownfields redevelopment issues from the point of view of community economic development (CED) practitioners. The research specifically interviewed staff of community development corporations (CDCs), which form part of the larger CED movement. The investigation sought to reveal why CDC staff consider brownfields as being problematic and to what or to whom they attribute the problem (diagnostic framing), the solutions they offer to the problems (prognostic), and the justification they give for calling to action the redevelopment of brownfields (motivational framing). Essentially the research sought to understand the collective action frame that community development corporations (CDCs) do or do not articulate with respect to the redevelopment of brownfields, by analyzing views expressed by various CDC staff that participated in the interviews. Understanding CED practitioners' perceptions is fundamental to the practice of CED and to the process of influencing policies that will support the CED practice. CED is an important link of social and economic development and one of the ways the practices can begin to effect change in society is through making its values explicit. This research contributes towards this goal. The major findings of the research are that CDCs as organizations are motivated to redeveloping brownfields so as to achieve the following goals: affordable housing; neighborhood revitalization; to mitigate against safety, crime and drug issues; and to address health concerns. But there was little consistency in patterns to suggest that CED practitioners were actively engaged in recruiting adherents, constituents, bystander publics, or antagonists to get involved in the redevelopment of brownfields. (Author abstract)Item Microfinance as a tool for financial services reconstruction in post-conflict communities : a study of post-conflict microfinance in the Democratic Republic of Congo(Southern New Hampshire University, 2011) Matabisi, Lukumu Nicodeme; Rielly, Catherine; Ashe, Jeffrey; Hotchkiss, Charles; Clamp, ChristinaSince its inception in the 1970s, modern microfinance has emerged as a strategy to reduce vulnerability of the poor and promote microenterprise. This dissertation proposes that microfinance plays an additional role as a tool for reconstructing financial services in post-conflict communities. During major conflicts, the provision of financial services is usually disrupted; and financial institutions are often targets of lootings by militia or military of factions in conflicts; resulting in weak, insolvent, and non-operational financial services sectors when post-conflict reconstruction begins. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s financial services system was greatly disrupted by years of conflicts that ended in 2003. In the post-conflict DRC, the provision of financial services has shown some improvement, and an important share of this improvement can be attributed to microfinance. The central question becomes whether microfinance is an effective tool for post-conflict reconstruction of financial services. Using financial data from the DRC and surveys; this study, first, performed a trend analysis of outreach (employment, clientele, loans, savings/deposits) and financial performance (assets, profitability, efficiency, risk) of financial institutions using a microfinance approach; and second, compared the level of outreach and financial performance by financial institutions using a microfinance approach to those using a traditional financial approach; and third, compared the reconstruction level (business development, education, assets acquisition, and standard of living) of microfinance clients to the level of non-clients of financial institutions. This study found that, in post-conflict communities, microfinance - as a mode of financial services provision is active, agile, and is a better tool than traditional financial services in terms of outreach and some aspects of financial performance, at least in the early interim phases of reconstruction. When compared to non-clients, this study found that clients of microfinance institutions experienced greater business development, acquired more assets, saved more, and enjoyed a higher standard of living. All these reconstruction variables performed significant differences. The only non-significant difference between clients and non-clients was found in the area of education. Microfinance should therefore be considered as a tool for post-conflict reconstruction of financial services and be emphasized as an intervention in the early stages of reconstruction of financial services. (Author abstract)Item The new Americans : factors affecting economic integration among African refugees in New Hampshire(Southern New Hampshire University, 2006) Ugbe, Utiang P.; Swack, Michael; Clamp, Christina; Lejter, NellySince 1983, 6000 refugees have resettled in New Hampshire from countries around the world, under the auspices of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. About 1300 (22%) of these came from African countries, 95% of them since the year 2000. Secondary migration (from within America) has increased the number of African refugees in New Hampshire to an estimated 2500. Their presence in New Hampshire raises the need for their economic, social, cultural, and political integration; economic integration is of particular importance because it facilitates access to the social, cultural and political spheres of society. The study utilizes mixed methods data to address human capital, situational dispositional theoretic elements on the factors affecting labor market activities, as well as current and potential microentrepreneurial activities among the African refugees in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire state government and Lutheran Social Services supplied the secondary data for the study, complemented by primary data from a researcher-administered survey of 110 cases, phenomenological interviews with 44 African refugees, and triangulation of these with six community-based resource persons who work with African refugees. Key findings include varying degrees of a statistical association between human capital and situational indicators (such as gender, age, education, country of origin, and length of stay in the USA) and the participants’ wage income; a downward occupational mobility for refugees with educational or professional qualifications; systemic barriers to the transfer, recognition, retraining, credentialing and licensing of occupational skills that the refugees bring from their countries of origin; illiteracy and lack of English language proficiency; cultural disconnectedness and lack of familiarity with the American workplace etiquette; and creative uses of the welfare state by refugees as coping strategies in combination with wage income or informal microentrepreneurial activities. Due to combined effects of these factors, 24% of the study participants are unemployed, while those employed concentrate in unskilled, entry-level jobs in the manufacturing sector, which places them among the so-called working poor in America. The study discusses these findings relative to other immigrant groups, and recommends policies, programs and self-help interventions for promoting economic integration among the refugees. (Author abstract)