Tribes, Water, and Economic Characteristics of the Western United States

Native American tribes in the Western United States experience persistent socio-economic challenges that impede economic development and improved standards of living within their communities. In this study, U.S. Census Bureau data on tribes is linked with additional data sources to perform econometric analyses to better understand how “tribal presence” explains economic well-being. This study finds, as expected, that “Tribal Presence” (created from percent of tribal land and percent of Native American population ) has a significant negative relationship with Per Capita Income at census tract and county spatial scales. Consistent with the findings on income, the Tribal Presence variable has a significant negative relationship with Percent Families Above Poverty. Variables for education, internet access, urban population, and climate were also significant determinants for income and family poverty. The climate variable results were interesting as they infer that the more unusually dry or wet it is, the more income and more poverty there is. Further analysis of counties with “tribal presence” was conducted to better understand how counties with tribes who have quantified water rights compare to counties with tribes who have yet to quantify water rights.

Young, Ryan thesis final 5 2019.pdf (2.91 MB)

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