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  • From: Tompkins County Relocalization Project <tcrp-news AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • To: tcrp-news AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [tcrp-news] Fwd: Article: Counties w/ Thriving Small Businesses Have Healthier Residents
  • Date: Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:42:46 -0500

The following article, forwarded by a local planning expert, will be of
interest to many people on this mail list.

Jon

========================================================================

Counties with Thriving Small Businesses Have Healthier Residents, LSU &
Baylor Researchers Find
Feb. 7, 2012, EurekAlert.org

Counties and parishes with a greater concentration of small,
locally-owned businesses have healthier populations — with lower rates
of mortality, obesity and diabetes — than do those that rely on large
companies with "absentee" owners, according to a national study by
sociologists at LSU and Baylor University.

"What stands out about this research is that we often think of the
economic benefits and job growth that small business generates, but we
don't think of the social benefits to small communities," said Troy C.
Blanchard, Ph.D., lead author and associate professor of sociology at
LSU. "This study highlights not only the economic benefits of small
business, but its contributions to health and well-being."

The study of 3,060 counties and parishes in the contiguous United
States, published online in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy
and Society and forthcoming in its March print issue, brings new
evidence to a body of research literature and a debate among
sociologists, who traditionally have advanced two competing hypotheses
about how small business impacts public health.

Some sociologists argue that small businesses — unlike chain retail
"big box" stores and large manufacturing plants — have a greater
investment in the community and thus have more at stake when it comes to
the well-being of employees, customers and other local citizens. The LSU
and Baylor researchers, who analyzed national population, health,
business and housing data, found that the greater the proportion of
small businesses, the healthier the population.

"Some communities appear to have thriving small business sectors that
feature entrepreneurial cultures that promote public health. A place
like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in
which a community takes control of its own destiny," said co-author
Charles M. Tolbert, Ph.D., chair of the sociology department at Baylor.
"The alternative is the attitude that 'Things are out of our control.'"


Communities may become dependent on outside investment to solve
problems, the researchers wrote.

Their findings are a departure from the traditional conclusion that
"bigger is better."

Beginning in the 1970s, communities courted large employers from the
outside, with a goal of providing high-paying jobs with benefits. In
contrast, small local employers offered lower pay, few — if any —
benefits, little chance for advancement, vulnerability to competition
and sometimes, nepotism, the researchers wrote.

"The old way of thinking was that you wanted to work for a big company
because of pension plans, health insurance, dental insurance," said
co-author Carson Mencken, Ph.D., professor of sociology in Baylor
University's College of Arts & Sciences. "But many of them have moved
overseas to cheaper labor markets. So what we see are larger retailers,
usually next to interstates, that pay low wages and may not even offer
full-time jobs with benefits, but instead hire people to work 30 hours a
week. There's a high turnover."

Larger companies showed a large drop in wages — 33 percent in real
dollars — and access to health insurance between 1988 and 2003,
previous research has shown. Amid restructuring and globalization, some
large businesses are giving employees furloughs from full-time jobs,
then rehiring them as short-time contract workers with no benefits.

While locally owned businesses are not adding greater compensation or
benefits, the pay gap is shrinking.

"It's in their financial interest to take a stake in the community, to
make it a place where people want to live and work," Mencken said.

Said Tolbert: "When someone creates a 'mom and pop' business, it's a
huge step to bring that first employee on board. If it's a relative or
neighbor, they'll bend over backward to hire and retain them. They're
going to bring on board somebody they trust, and they'll pull every hair
and every tooth in their head before they lay off someone who's their
neighbor."

For some workers, self-employment is a way to escape the "roller
coaster" cycle of furloughs and call-backs. Given that health insurance
and access to medical care will be limited, poorer health might be
expected of those workers.

But small businesses are more likely to support bond issues for health
infrastructures, recruit physicians, push for local anti-smoking
legislation, promote community health programs and activities and
support local farmers' markets, researchers said.

They found that counties with a greater proportion of small businesses
have a healthier population. They analyzed the number of small
businesses per 100,000 people, categorizing small business as those with
four or fewer employees; large manufacturing establishments as those
with 500 or more employees; and large retailers as those with 100 or
more employees.

"Our findings suggest that the rewards of a vibrant small business
sector are multi-dimensional," Blanchard said. "In addition to job
creation, small businesses yield important non-economic rewards to
communities that may improve the health of local residents. "

###

LSU and Baylor researchers analyzed data from the 2000 Census of
Population and Housing, the 2007 Centers for Disease Control Obesity and
Diabetes Estimates, the National Center for Health Statistics Compressed
Mortality records from 1994 to 2006, the 2002 County Business Patterns
and the 2002 Nonemployer Statistics.

Contact: Terry Goodrich, terry_goodrich AT baylor.edu, 254-710-3321,
Baylor University

The research paper is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, the National Research Initiative, the Social and Economic
Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.
ABOUT LSU. LSU is Louisiana's flagship university. Designated as a
land, sea and space grant institution, it is noted for its extensive
research facilities, operating some 800 sponsored research projects
funded by agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, the
National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities,
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, among others.
ABOUT BAYLOR Baylor University is a private Christian university and a
nationally ranked research institution, classified as such with "high
research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for
approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research
with an international reputation for educational excellence and a
faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the
Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the
oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco,
Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries
to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized
academic divisions.
ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES. The College of Arts & Sciences is
Baylor University's oldest and largest academic division, consisting of
27 academic departments and 13 academic centers and institutes. The more
than 5,000 courses taught in the College span topics from art and
theatre to religion, philosophy, sociology and the natural sciences.
Faculty conduct research around the world, and research on the
undergraduate and graduate level is prevalent throughout all
disciplines.





  • [tcrp-news] Fwd: Article: Counties w/ Thriving Small Businesses Have Healthier Residents, Tompkins County Relocalization Project, 02/07/2012

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