Neil Ward - developing resilience in Europe’s rural economies

Developing Resilience in Europe’s Rural Economies Neil Ward, Norwich Business School & Faculty of Social Sciences, University of East Anglia

Plan
Introduction – Europe’s rural economies
Diversity and common challenges
Characterising rural economies
The OECD’s ‘New Rural Paradigm’
From sectoral to spatial, from subsidies to investment
System shocks and resilience
Adaptive responses to the 2001 Foot & Mouth Crisis
Rural development models
Exogenous and endogenous models
Neo-endogenous rural development

Agriculture’s share of total employment, 2002

England’s rural-urban classification

Characterising rural economies
Characteristics
Smaller firms and micro-businesses
Higher levels of self-employment
Higher levels of female entrepreneurship
Lower average wages
Sectorally similar to urban economies
Common challenges
Sparsity
Distance
Risks of marginalisation in economic development planning

The OECD’s ‘New Rural Paradigm’
Rural advantage / disadvantage
In OECD countries, rural per capita GDP is 82% of national averages
But rural is not synonymous with decline
The fastest growing region in 1 out of 3 OECD countries is rural
Rural opportunities
Role of rural in-migration in local economic dynamism
ICT and national/international interconnectedness
Role of rural resources in urban and regional tourism and business offer

2001 Foot & Mouth Disease outbreak in the UK
Rural micro-business responses in the north of England
Phillipson et al ., 2004, Journal of Rural Studies
“ It is impossible to understand the micro-business enterprise as separate from the household in which it is located” (Oughton & Wheelock, 2002)

Micro-businesses can show features of both vulnerability and resilience at the same time
Limited internal resources
Over-reliance on limited personal networks
Low cost flexible labour reserve
Credit-raising potential among close social relations
System shock stimulated some positive responses:
Forging new business alliances
Strengthening social relations
Conscious strategic planning
Shock absorption capacity of “business households” led to surprisingly low levels of unemployment and business failure (even in most affected areas)

Exogenous and endogenous development models Diverse service economies Food & primary products for expanding urban economies Functions of rural areas Capacity-building (skills, institutions, infrastructure); overcoming exclusion Ag. Modernisation; encourage labour & capital mobility Focus of rural development Ltd capacity of areas/groups to participate in economic activity Low productivity & peripherality Major rural dev problems Local initiative & enterprise Urban growth poles (drivers exogenous to rural areas) Dynamic force Harnessing local (natural, human & cultural) resources for sustainable development Economies of scale & concentration Key principle Endogenous development Exogenous development

Neo-endogenous development
Wholly ‘endogenous’ development is an unattainable ideal
Hybrid model, “locally-centred” development (maximising the capturing of local benefits)
Neo-endogenous agents: (business households; business networks; place-identity; learning regions)
Key role of ‘neo-endogenous facilitators’ ( e.g. universities - as both local and global institutions; regional development agencies; LEADER networks)

Thank you
Further research reports on neo-endogenous rural development are posted at:
www.ncl.ac.uk/cre

Neil Ward - developing resilience in Europe’s rural economies

by ConferenceXtra on Sep 23, 2009

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Neil Ward - developing resilience in Europe’s rural economies — Presentation Transcript