Progress 05/01/11 to 04/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:School principles, business owners, students, extension personnel, majors, policy makers, development advocates, parents. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? The results will be reported in the Cooperative Research and Extension Annual Report and will be disseminated to communities of interest . What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1 was accomplished and the results reported in the progress report for 2011, and Objective 2 was accomplished and the results reported in the progress reports for 2012. A journal article based on the results of objective 2 is in progress. Objective 3, the final objective of the project, was accomplished for this reporting period. This objective was accomplished using a survey questionnaire conducted at two public high schools in Scott County, Missouri during the academic school year 2014-2015. The two high schools were Sikeston Public High School and Scott County High School. The schools have a combined total of 233 high school seniors. A sample of fifty-seven seniors, about 24 percent of the senior students participated in the survey. The questionnaire was made up of two sets of questions: One set of questions focused on factors that would influence a student's attitude towards entrepreneurship. This set of questions consisted of questions to determine student's preference for owning his or her own business or working for someone else; number of years of schooling a student's parent completed; parent's income; and whether or not a student has been a part of an entrepreneurship program. The second set of questions was knowledge questions. These were likert type questions about student's knowledge of entrepreneurship; characteristics of an entrepreneur; and questions about factors that the student feels would encourage entrepreneurship as a career. The questions were tested for clarity before they were administered to the students at the high schools. The results of the survey were analyzed statistically using logistic regressions for the first set of questions and Wilcoxon rank-sum for the second set of questions. The logistic regression was specified using a binary dependent variable and a set of binary independent variables. The results of logistic regression are shown in Table 1, where the variables are listed. The dependent variable is work preference. It is a binary variable (=1 if a student prefers working for himself or herself; 0 if a student prefers working for someone else); The independent variables are also binary variables: female, a gender variable(=1 if a female; 0 if a male); black, race variable (=1 if black; 0 if white); parent own a business (= 1 if own a business; 0 otherwise); parent's level of education (= 1 if parent has a college degree; 0 otherwise); parent's income (= 1 if parent's income equals to or above the average median income of $32,000 for the county involved in the study; 0 if below the median income); member of an entrepreneurship program (= 1 if member of an entrepreneurship program; 0 if not a member); and cons, a constant term. The overall logistic regression model was significant at the 5 percent level of significance (p<0.05), indicating that at least one of the independent variables in the regression model is not equal to zero. Table 1 Logistic regression Number of obs = 55 LR chi2(6) = 12.88 Prob > chi2 = 0.0451 Log likelihood = -24.762448 Pseudo R2 = 0.2063 Work Preference Odds Ratio Std. Err. z P>z [95% Conf. Interval] female 1.487317 1.156373 0.51 0.610 .3240436 6.826588 black 2.557009 1.984493 1.21 0.226 .5586186 11.7044 Parent owns a business .3696011 .3374446 -1.09 0.276 .0617432 2.21247 Parent's education 9.242095 9.470657 2.17 0.030 1.240276 68.86882 Parent's income .2483511 .1961364 -1.76 0.078 .0528233 1.167633 Member of an entrepreneurship program .29075 .2605197 -1.38 0.168 .0502135 1.683522 _cons 2.258153 2.167407 0.85 0.396 .3441583 14.8166 From the results, only parent's education and parent's income are significant at the 5% and 10% levels, respectively. The odd ratio for the parent's education variable is about 9.24, meaning that for a student whose parent has a college degree, the odd of working for oneself is 9.24 times more likely than the odd of not working for oneself, i.e., working for someone else. For the income variable, the odd ratio is .25, meaning that for a student whose parent's income is equal or above the median income level the odd is .25 times more likely of not working for oneself, i.e., working for someone else. This low result could mean that people in a high income bracket are aware of the risk of loss one's own money associated with working for oneself as oppose to working for someone else. The second set of questions was analyzed using a Wilcoxon rank sum test on the gender variable. Only the results of the 5-point Likert type questions concerning the statement: "Buying a business is not entrepreneurship" was significant (see Table 2). The z value = 2.109; p = 0.0349. It is significant at the 5 percent level of significance, meaning that there is a difference in response between the male and female students. Table 2 Two-sample Wilcoxon rank-sum (Mann-Whitney) test Gender obs rank sum expected 0 26 882.5 754 1 31 770.5 899 combined 57 1653 1653 unadjusted variance 3895.67 adjustment for ties -183.82 ---------- adjusted variance 3711.84 Ho: Response(Gender==0) = Response(Gender==1) z = 2.109 Prob > z = 0.0349
Publications
|
Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audience include high school teachers, principals, superintendents of schools, extension personnel in the research area, the chamber of commerce in the research area, policymakers. Changes/Problems: We request a change in one of the objectives of the project. Currentobjective: to determine opportunities for entrepreneurial activities to boost economic development in the eastern half of the region. Reason for the change: Other organizations have conducted research in the research area on the same objective. Proposed objective: to determine the odd of an individual being an entrepreneur who has an intention to be an entrepreneur and whose parents are entrepreneurs. .Approach:We willuse a survey questionnaire to get information from a sample of high schoolseniors in the sample area. The information we will seek in the questionnaire will include the following: Do your parents own a business? Doyou intend to own your own business in the future? What is your parent (s) level ofeducation?We will use a logistic regression model to analyze the results of the survey. The dependent vairable in this case will be a zero one variable-zero if a student's parents do not owna business and one if the parentsown a business. The independent variables includeparents' income,parents' level of education, etc. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? We have submitted the results of the research to the schools that participated in the research. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We plan to request a change in the objective of the project. We also plan to requesta one year extension of the project in order to complete the objective
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: To identify factors for disparities in economic development within two sub-regions in the Southeast Missouri: This objective was achieved and the results were reported in last year's progress report. Objective 2: to determine the difference in attitude toward entrepreneurship between the western region and the eastern region. To achieve this objective a survey three high schools were selected two from the eastern region and one from the western region. The three high schools that were selected were Charleston High School in Charleston, Missouri and Caruthersville High School in Caruthersville, Missouri, both in the eastern region, and Poplar Bluff High School in the western had a combined total of 444 seniors. A sample of 238 or 54 percent of the senior student population participated in the survey. A total of 205 or 86 percent of the participating seniors responded correctly to the questionnaire. Of the 205 students, 95 or 46 percent came from Charleston High School and Caruthersville High School, and 54 percent came from Poplar Bluff High School. The data were evaluated using Chi Square contingency test. The difference in response between the western region and the eastern region regarding business ownership preference was significant, χ2(2, N=205) = 11.026, p= 0.004. Fisher exact test, p =0.004. Students from the eastern sub-region were more likely to prefer owning their own business while students from the western sub-region were less likely to prefer owning their own business. The results of questions 2 and 3 were not significant, meaning there were no difference in the responses to questions 2 and 3. The results of question 4 were not significant except for the ranking of the item: "An entrepreneur motivates others." This ranking was significant, χ2(4, N=203) =10.137, p=0.038; Fisher's exact = 0.037. The results for question 5 were significant for the ranking of formal education as key to being a successful entrepreneur, χ2(4, N=203) =11.666, p=0.020; Fisher's exact = 0.012. The results were also significant for the ranking of "Apprenticeship" key to being a successful entrepreneur, χ2 (4, N=203) =11.979, p=0.018; Fisher's exact =
Publications
|
Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience: High school teachers, principals, superintendents of school, andhigh school seniors;extension personnel in Butler County, Missouri; policymakers. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We plan to ask for a one year extension of the project to complete the objectives of the project.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 1: To identify factors for disparities in economic development within two sub-regions in the Southeast Missouri: This objective was achieved and the results were reported in last year's progress report. Objective 2:todetermine the difference in attitude toward entrepreneurship between the western region and the eastern region. To achieve this objective a survey three high schools were selected two from the eastern region and one from the western region. The three high schools that were selected were Charleston High School in Charleston, Missouri and Caruthersville High School in Caruthersville, Missouri, both in the eastern region, and Poplar Bluff High School in the western region. Survey questionnaire was conducted at these high schools in the spring and fall semesters of 2013. The high schools had a combined total of 444 seniors. A sample of 238 or 54 percent of the senior student population participated in the survey. A total of 205 or 86 percent of the participating seniors responded correctly to the questionnaire. Of the 205 students, 95 or 46 percent came from Charleston High School and Caruthersville High School, and 54 percent came from Poplar Bluff High School. The data were evaluated using Chi Square contingency test. The difference in response between the western region and the eastern region regarding business ownership preference was significant, χ2(2, N=205) = 11.026, p= 0.004. Fisher exact test, p =0.004. Students from the eastern sub-region were more likely to prefer owning their own business while students from the western sub-region were less likely to prefer owning their own business. The results of questions 2 and 3 were not significant, meaning there were no difference in the responses to questions 2 and 3. The results of question 4 were not significant except for the ranking of the item: “An entrepreneur motivates others.” This ranking was significant, χ2(4, N=203) =10.137, p=0.038; Fisher’s exact = 0.037. The results for question 5 were significant for the ranking of formal education as key to being a successful entrepreneur, χ2(4, N=203) =11.666, p=0.020; Fisher’s exact = 0.012. The results were also significant for the ranking of “Apprenticeship” key to being a successful entrepreneur, χ2 (4, N=203) =11.979, p=0.018; Fisher’s exact = 0.017.
Publications
|
Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The study area of the research was the Bootheel region of southeast Missouri. The region comprises of seven counties: Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott, and Stoddard. According to Missouri Economic Research Information Center (MERIC), the region is one of most economically depressed areas in the state. To improve the economic condition of the region, policy makers have embraced and encouraged entrepreneurship, focusing on formation of small and medium size firms. Small and medium size firm formation varies among the counties. After adjusting for differences in population, some counties have relatively more firms than others. The research question was what account for the differences in firm formation The question was addressed by listing some factors that affect firm formation identified in the literature on entrepreneurship. The factors listed were (1) access to credit; (2) access to technical assistance; (3) access to information on starting a business; (4) training in entrepreneurship; (5) support network; (6) access to market; (7) access to business space; (8) marketing support; and (9) educated workforce. Lack of access to these factors can restrict firm formation; whereas more access to these factor expand firm formation. These factors were incorporated into a likert type survey questionnaire developed to elicit information by asking participants to rank whether the factors create barriers to firm formation in the area. Three rank categories were specified: 1-no barriers, 2-do not know, and 3-barriers. A two-step process was used to conduct the survey: First, the survey was sent to 821 owners and managers of businesses via constant contact, resulting in a response rate of 3 percent. Second, Second, the 134 individuals who could not be reached by constant, were contacted for an in person interview. Forty-nine agreed, resulting in a response rate of 4 percent. The response rate for the entire survey was 7 percent. Usable data were obtained from five counties: Butler, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, and Scott. PARTICIPANTS: Wesseh J. Wollo, project PI, Cooperative Research, Lincoln University of Missouri. Dr. Felix M. Edoho, Professor of Business, Lincoln Univesity of Missouri. Mr. Kevin Anderson, Small Business Specialist with University Extension, University of Missouri, Columbia. TARGET AUDIENCES: Owners and managers and potential owners and managers of small and medium size businesses in the Bootheel region of Missouri. And policy makers and community development avocates. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The data were analyzed statistically using the Kruskal-Wallis Test to evaluate the differences in responses among the various counties to the barrier that each factor posed to firm formation. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used because the survey data did not fulfill the normality assumptions. The test, which was corrected for tied ranks, was significant for lack of access to technical assistance (factor 2), χ2 (4, N=70) =12.60, p=0.0134. Mann-Whitney tests were conducted to evaluate pairwise differences among the five counties, controlling for Type I error across tests by using the Bonferroni approach. The results indicated a significance difference to the barrier posed by lack of access to technical assistance in firm formation between Butler County and Mississippi County, and between Butler County and New Madrid County. New Madrid had the highest mean response rank (46.72), indicating that the lack of access to technical assistance is a barrier to firm formation in New Madrid County; Mississippi County had the second higher mean response rank (41.09), indicating also that the lack of access to technical assistance was a barrier to firm formation in Mississippi County. Butler County had the least mean response rank (23.23), indicating that the lack of access to technical assistance was not a barrier to firm formation in Butler County. The results of the project will provide valuable information to policy makers to assist them with devising better policy to assist firm formation in depressed rural communities.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
|