An absentee business owner is one who does not personally manage the business he owns, or who does not live in the community in which the business operates. Studies show that money spent locally re-circulates in the community three times as much as it does when it is spent with an absentee-owned business. Local currency

Local currency

In economics, a local currency, in its common usage, is a currency not backed by a national government , and intended to trade only in a small area. As a tool of fiscal localism, local moneys can raise awareness of the state of the local economy, especially among those who may be unfamiliar or...

 has been implemented in some communities as a countermeasure to this effect. Neighborhood investment, in which members of the community are give opportunities to become partial owners of new developments, is another method. In Brazil, studies found that more than a third of the profits generated from tourism were exported to absentee business owners. In Vietnam, the economic expansion of the 1990s was associated with a rise in absentee business owners. There has also been concern that tourism profits in southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

 go to absentee business owners.

Absentee business owners can be more vulnerable to theft by employees, especially when recordkeeping is turned over to employees, unless proper internal control

Internal control

In accounting and auditing, internal control is defined as a process effected by an organization's structure, work and authority flows, people and management information systems, designed to help the organization accomplish specific goals or objectives. It is a means by which an organization's...

s and review are implemented. In the United States, many business-owning reservist

Reservist

A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...

s have become absentee business owners during long tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.