Native and Local Economics: A Consideration of Economic Evolution and the Next Economy

Abstract

A growing body of social-scientific literature drawing on the experience of village-based northern bush economies demonstrates that adaptation to industrial economy entrepreneurial opportunities is both difficult and problematic. An analysis of the basic social and administrative structures of the bush, industrial and "next" economies (those focused on information and service) reveals that the bush economy has many shared structural parallels with the next economy and that this congruence can be exploited by members of the bush economy seeking next economy business opportunities. In particular it is noted that the bush economy household unit of production has strong affinities to the re-emergence of small businesses based on a family model, generalist skills, cooperative management, utilization of appropriate new technology, disintermediation and emphasis on the integration of work with the entrepreneur's cultural and personal values. A model is proposed for community-based share offerings and is developed to include community corporate culture, local employee training and the creation of new business opportunities. This model emphasizes the retention of locally generated capital in the community and its utilization for the start-up of a variety of businesses in the information and service sector.

Key words: village and bush economies, next (information and service) economy, native economic development, community-based development, entrepreneurship