Regional Spatial Approach to Differences in Rural Economic Development: Insights from Serbia

Rural regions with a larger share of the primary sector in the overall economy are limited in their ability to achieve a sufficient level of competitiveness. In countries such as Serbia, where rural areas play an important role, addressing the problems affecting these areas is important for overall development. The purpose of this study is to determine the socioeconomic performance of the rural regions of Serbia and the EU in order to indicate the position of Serbia’s rural areas in the process of European integration. NUTS 3 (NUTS 2 for Germany) was used for analysis, and from this an Index of Socioeconomic Performance was created. This Index was created using Factor Analysis. The results point to Serbia lagging behind other EU regions in terms of development, with most of Serbia’s rural regions receiving the lowest ratings. These results are cause for alarm and indicate a need to create strategies that will direct resources towards key issues in these areas, whose potential would be adequately used through the implementation of rural policy measures, with the aim of overall socioeconomic development.

Agricultural Holdings’ Impact on the Rural Development. Case Study: Romania

Associative forms represent a part of the agricultural producers’ manifestation, with long-term impact on rural development. Considering the current dimension and the cultural-organizational baggage, the authors aim to carry out an impact study on the contribution of agricultural holding companies to rural development. This objective is to be achieved through prospective analysis methods based on a structured questionnaire, which allows for statistical tests of the variables’ frequency and representativeness and econometric modelling of rural development efficiency in relation to independent variables related to the organizational custom and economic outputs of organizations. The results of the study aim at identifying the vulnerabilities that hinder the maximization of the function of the agricultural holding companies (the economic development) and treating these vulnerabilities through some concrete measures according to the modelling results. The study is useful for rural policy makers and trainers in any country in the world.

Rural Policies for Sparsely Populated Areas in Finland – Old Problems, New Challenges and Future Opportunities

Sparsely populated areas are in many countries seen as regressive regions lacking decent future options and demanding continuous support from the more prosperous parts of the country in question. This paper addresses rural policies drawn up in recent years to govern not only the negative trends but also the opportunities which the thinly populated rural areas of Finland are experiencing. Finland is, in the European context, a very sparsely inhabited country with long distances between population centres. Less populated areas account for 68% of the land area of Finland but only 5% of the population. Finland’s long tradition of rural policy implementation has resulted in a comprehensive approach also to the policy measures targeting especially the less populated areas.

Mobilization Campaigns and Rural Development

ABSTRACT Most accounts of East Asian economic growth have focused on the role of developmental states in successful industrialization. This article expands and challenges that framework by showing that rural policy was different from industrial policy. A key finding is that for more than a century, East Asian states have relied on mass mobilization campaigns rather than on technocratic planning and market-conforming institutions to achieve rural development. Based on case studies of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and China, the author argues that three main factors explain the rise of campaign states: revolutionary traditions, rural populism, and policy learning. A brief assessment of outcomes illustrates the payoffs and costs of campaigns and the practical considerations that drive them. The author’s analysis offers a new perspective on the East Asian model and disputes the widely held view that campaigns are tragic exercises in social control, demonstrating instead that they were central to the region’s rural transformation.

Available agricultural areas and ownership structure of holdings in the Republic of Serbia

The subject of research in this paper is the analysis and presentation of data on agricultural holdings, the structure of available and utilized area. The main goal is to determine and explain more comprehensively and in detail, by using appropriate methods, and based on available data, the condition of utilized agricultural area and its characteristics by utilization categories and ownership structure of holdings. The importance of this research arises from the fact that the results on utilized agricultural area can be used to adopt appropriate measures and undertake certain activities in land and overall agricultural and rural policy related to sustainable utilization, arrangement and protection of agricultural land and more balanced integrated development of rural areas, as well as to find better solutions in the field of utilization, ownership sector and conditions of agricultural area management.

Evaluating the impact of policy research: Evidence from the evaluation of rural policy research in developing countries

Policy research concerning developing countries must compete for scarce resources with alternative development investments, many of which are amenable to quantitative assessment of their impact and economic efficiency. This is especially true for policy research that addresses agriculture, food and rural poverty—rural policy research. This paper draws on existing evaluations of rural policy research to identify good practice in the conduct of impact evaluations in developing countries. While much has been learnt from these evaluations about how rural policy research can influence policies, the impact of the policy changes that may follow, and about methods for conducting such studies, very few have assessed the efficiency or economic benefit of rural policy research investments. The paper concludes that while the current focus on the use of mixed-method evaluations is necessary and sufficient in most cases, in the context of allocating public resources, evaluations that provide plausible estimates of the rates of return to major rural policy research investments, or even rural policy research institutions yield important additional and comparative information for decision makers. However, such quantitative assessments do not replace but depend on the prior conduct of qualitative and mixed-method evaluations.