This website uses cookies.

By clicking the "Accept" button or continuing to browse our site, you agree to first-party and session-only cookies being stored on your device to enhance site navigation and analyze site performance and traffic. For more information on our use of cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

  1. Home
  2. ASSA Annual Meeting
  3. 2021
  4. Preliminary Program
  5. Indigenous Nations Economic Development Strategies: Policies and Outcomes
« Back to Results

Indigenous Nations Economic Development Strategies: Policies and Outcomes

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)

Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Randall Akee, University of California-Los Angeles

Community Development Financial Institutions and Individuals' Credit Risk in Indian Country

Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl
,
Virginia Military Institute
Peter Grajzl
,
Washington and Lee University
Joseph Guse
,
Washington and Lee University
Michou Kokodoko
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Abstract

Native communities in the U.S. have been persistently underserved by traditional financial institutions. To fill this gap, in recent years both Native and Non-Native Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have emerged on or near American Indian reservations. Yet to date, no systematic empirical evidence exists on the effect of CDFIs on credit outcomes in Indian Country. We combine a large-scale dataset on individual-level credit bureau records with Census block group-level measures of CDFI activity to explore how the presence of Native and Non Native CDFIs affects Indian Country residents' credit risk scores, a key summary measure of individuals' credit performance and creditworthiness. Using multiple empirical approaches and addressing endogeneity concerns, we uncover a positive association between Native CDFI presence and credit risk scores for the subsample of individuals initially deemed least creditworthy. We find no evidence of a similar effect due to Non-Native CDFIs. To the extent that CDFIs have indeed causally impacted individuals' credit risk scores, our findings indicate that the corresponding improvements have arisen primarily because of Native, rather than Non-Native, CDFI activity. Our analysis thereby offers the first suggestive empirical evidence of the importance of a cultural fit for credit outcomes in Indian Country. 

The Distributional Impacts of Targeted Labour Market Programming

Donna Feir
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Maggie E.C. Jones
,
University of Victoria
Kelly Foley
,
University of Saskatchewan

Abstract

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a targeted labour market program–the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS). ASETS was a demand- driven program for Indigenous peoples in Canada. We use variation in assignment to program interventions to study the distributional impact of different suites of interventions on labour market outcomes. ASETS operated between 2010 and 2017, supporting skills development and job training of Indigenous people in Canada. Partnerships were formed with local service delivery organizations that provided labour market interventions, including but not limited to funding for education and skill up- grading, wage subsidies, and workplace readiness programs. Our analysis makes use of a rich administrative dataset that contains information on all Indigenous program participants, labour market interventions, and unemployment spells. These data are subsequently linked to individual tax files, permitting analysis of post-program labour market outcomes.

Gaming Opportunities: The Impact of Tribal Casinos on Economic Success and Intergenerational Mobility

Emilia Simeonova
,
Johns Hopkins University
Randall Akee
,
University of California-Los Angeles
Maggie R. Jones
,
U.S. Census Bureau
Sonya R Porter
,
U.S. Census Bureau

Abstract

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act has unlocked successful economic development activity for American Indian tribal governments that is unprecedented in their modern history (Akee et al, 2015; Wash- burn, 2008; National Indian Gaming Commission 2014; Senate Committee on Indian Affairs 1988). American Indian gaming was authorized via the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. This law provided a standardized method for American Indian tribal governments to create casino operations on their federally-recognized tribal lands. In our analysis, we assemble a novel panel data set at the individual household level for those residing on American Indian reservations in 1989 prior to the start of the Indian Gaming industry. We then follow the same set of individual households over time. We analyse the impact of casino operations on the socio-economic status of the parents and the long-run economic performance of the children from the same households. Here we focus our analysis on the population of American Indians residing on reservation or tribal lands in 1989, the year immediately after IGRA was adopted and before the onset of the tribal gaming industry. To our knowledge, this is the first and only complete evaluation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act’s impact on the earnings and incomes of American Indians.

Native Nations and Support for Financial Institutions: Ownership Effects and Perceived Legitimacy

Donna Feir
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Calvin Thrall
,
University of Texas-Austin
Rachel Wellhausen
,
University of Texas-Austin

Abstract

We work collaboratively with a Native Nation to understand the financial status of their citizens and their levels of support a foreign-owned bank that will be opening in their territory. We use survey experiments to test the extent to which their support for the bank changes as a result of 1) a general endorsement for financial institutions by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States, 2a) an endorsement for the bank by their local elected government, and 2b) specific information that their government is moving its accounts to the bank. We also explore the extent to which baseline support and endorsement effects are conditional on the foreign identity of the owners of the bank. Preliminary results suggest strong ownership and endorsement effects on opinion, but small impacts on behavior measured by citizens’ interest in accessing their credit reports.
Discussant(s)
Abigail Wozniak
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
Marianne Bitler
,
University of California-Davis
Ioana Elena Marinescu
,
University of Pennsylvania
Christina Stoddard
,
Montana State University
JEL Classifications
  • O1 - Economic Development
  • J1 - Demographic Economics