Addressing homelessness with the “human ecology economics” framework: the role of the business community in California
International Journal of Social Economics
ISSN: 0306-8293
Article publication date: 15 April 2022
Issue publication date: 9 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a human ecology economics (HEE) framework for understanding and addressing homelessness, especially as it exists in California and the San Francisco Bay Area. The role of business and private “stakeholders of the homeless” is emphasized.
Design/methodology/approach
The HEE approach relies on evolutionary and complex systems processes, and it incorporates interdisciplinary material from the humanities. Within HEE, an early-stage exploratory research method is used. In-depth interviews with 16 long-term residents who are also managers in various organizations help to identify private-sector perceptions including how businesses can engage with and support the homeless.
Findings
In the current balance between needed supplies of “production capital,” which includes affordable housing, shelter beds, food, clothing, medical supplies and so on and “transaction capital,” which is an interacting mix of social capital, informational capital and financial capital, the authors find that the business community needs to pay greater attention to deficits in “transaction capital.”
Research limitations/implications
It is beyond the scope of this paper, and beyond the current ability of complex system modeling, to prioritize the best interventions across various types of homeless communities. However, for early-stage research, the authors have provided a useful ontology of the human ecology of homelessness that might inform further research and policy initiatives. Follow-on research might then investigate, with more rigorous methods, the narrower causalities between subcomponents of one’s ontology.
Originality/value
Scholars, policymakers and business community activists might appreciate the more comprehensive and accessible interdisciplinary framework for understanding the causes and possible responses to homelessness.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Funding: The third author, Saroja Subrahmanyan, thanks the School of Economics and Business Administration at Saint Mary’s College of California for funds to help with the transcription of the in-depth interviews.
The authors thank the editor, Richard Woodward, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Citation
Allen, R.E., Burns, C. and Subrahmanyan, S. (2022), "Addressing homelessness with the “human ecology economics” framework: the role of the business community in California", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 49 No. 9, pp. 1368-1386. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-08-2021-0490
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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