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Multifunctional agriculture: An engine of regional economic growth?
7-15Views:316The historical role of agriculture in economic geography and recent conceptual developments – including multifunctional agriculture (MFA), the new economic geography, amenity-driven growth, and the “world is flat” and “creative class” hypotheses – are examined, and recent empirical research in NorthAmerica and Europe is reviewed, in order to assess the potential for MFA as an engine of regional economic growth. Ideal MFA policy corrects market failures and is mostly amenity-augmenting. It has the capacity to enhance opportunities for farmers on urban fringe; stimulate growth in high-amenity rural regions accessible to cities that offer opportunities for high-value work; and generate growth in relatively remote high-amenity regions. The scope for market-failure-correcting MFA policy to propel economic growth in lessfavored regions is limited – remoteness is non-responsive to policy in the short to medium term, and amenities that attract in-migration (e.g. proximity to sea, lakes, mountains, pleasant climate) are givens for favored locations but can at best be complemented by pro-active policy – but not trivial. While this paper focuses on regional economic growth, it well to rememberthat growth is not everything. Regions unlikely to experience growth need to create satisfying futures. Market-failure-correcting MFA policy has the potential to improve quality of life, well-being, and perhaps incomes in many if not all rural places regardless of location. This accomplishment would not be trivial – economic growth for all regions regardless of resources, amenities, and remoteness is not a serious prospect, and regions in decline face daunting problems maintaining essential services and quality of life.
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Issues in the economic development and utilization of EU funds in a disadvantaged sub-region of the Southern Great Plain region
43-46Views:269The development period between 2007 and 2013 had a historical significance for Hungary as the funds that were provided by the European Union and were supplemented by the domestic and public sectors naturally offered great possibilities for the country’s sub-statistical regions and regions to inspire their development and innovation. In order to use these funds efficiently it is essential to incorporate the developments into the area’s capabilities, to harmonize them and to increase the role of the sub-statistical regions and regions. This study ranks the sub-regions of the Southern Great Plain Region in terms of their economic characteristics and identifies the most disadvantageous ones. Using as an example a specific sub-region it determines the local effects of EU payments with the application of different statistical methods.
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The assessment of intellectual capital in Polish regions
101-105Views:458In a knowledge-based economy intangible assets are indispensable to achieve competitive advantages. Resources like intellectual capital are perceived as crucial factors especially for regional growth. Intellectual capital is comprehended as a multidimensional concept, defined and explained in many various ways, depending on the context and further application. The purposes of this article is to consider the role and importance of the intellectual capital for regional development and competitiveness and to try to use it for an estimation of regional advance progress. On the basis of literature review the article provides a framework to analyse the intellectual capital and its main components. The central attention of the paper focuses on the evaluation of the intellectual capital in Polish regions and its influence on regional performance. The paper surveys the empirical examination of 16 Polish regions in terms of intellectual capital and simultaneously assesses the level of intellectual capital in rural areas. The article provides the insight into the role and value of the intellectual capital in Polish regions.
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The connenction between global innovation index and economic well-being indexes
87-92Views:959We study the connection of innovation in 126 countries by different well-being indicators and whether there are differences among geographical regions with respect to innovation index score. We approach and define innovation based on Global Innovation Index (GII). The following well-being indicators were emphasized in the research: GDP per capita measured at purchasing power parity, unemployment rate, life expectancy, crude mortality rate, human development index (HDI). Innovation index score was downloaded from the joint publication of 2018 of Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO, HDI from the website of the UN while we obtained other well-being indicators from the database of the World Bank. Non-parametric hypothesis testing, post-hoc tests and linear regression were used in the study.
We concluded that there are differences among regions/continents based on GII. It is scarcely surprising that North America is the best performer followed by Europe (with significant differences among countries). Central and South Asia scored the next places with high standard deviation. The following regions with significant backwardness include North Africa, West Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean Area, Central and South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Regions lagging behind have lower standard deviation, that is, they are more homogeneous therefore there are no significant differences among countries in the particular region.
In the regression modelling of the Global Innovation Index, it was concluded that GDP per capita, life expectancy and human development index are significant explanatory indicators. In the multivariable regression analysis, HDI remained the only explanatory variable in the final model. It is due to the fact that there was significant multicollinearity among the explanatory variables and the HDI aggregates several non-economic indicators like GII.JEL Classification: B41, I31, O31, Q55
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Networking on the utilization of local natural resources
57-60Views:269Together with its partners, Szolnok College is planning to evaluate a new project for networking on the utilization of local natural resources. This project is based on a research work (using the findings of the surveys completed by the representatives of hosts living in the eastern part of Hungary). The project itself is based on the adaptation of the theory of tourism into practice by presenting existing natural values in the supply portfolio of tourist service providers. A unique natural environment can be found alongside a 120 km-long stretch of River Tisza. These natural values interlink and complete each other with respect to Lake Tisza and River Tisza. Regions and settlements situated further from the specified settlements are also rich in natural values which guests will definitely be pleased to get acquainted with. The six landscape centres (including LHH regions) alongside river Tisza (in the two regions) symbolise the interdependent system of the sample area of the project while a single landscape centre in the Pásztó Minor Region embodies a unique character. A register will be prepared for each landscape centre containing unique natural values that can be involved in the tourist supply and handicraft/economic activities (e.g. basket weaving, floodplain economy) that are or can be built on these natural values. A pictorial English/German-Hungarian professional dictionary summarises the distinctive nature of landscape centres. The education material demonstrating the registers is going to be developed both in conventional and electronic form; its spatial IT appearance on the Internet is considered a special feature. The education material will be supplemented with other information currently missing such as those related to environmentally friendly economy, and the legal context. The methodology allows the adaptation of the method in other regions, even in the whole country. The new qualifying and benchmarking system and the trademark managed by a profession-specific cluster that strengthens network co-operation and controls the development guarantee the achievement of high quality tourism.
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Opportunities for the inclusion of less-favoured areas in the Northern Great Plain region
59-60Views:368Agricultural economics and its part, rural economics plays a determining role in Hungary. Most rural families perform self-sufficient farm production for a living. In the present conditions of infrastructure and human resources, there are regions where the only rural alternative for employment is agriculture. There are significant differences among the regions considering natural resources and equipment available for farm production, and these differences affect potential income (Vöröset al. 1999). The primary aim of the European Union is to reduce such differences among the regions.The new research program of the University of Debrecen tackles the fundamental questions of regional development through the research and management of social asymmetries by using economic and other relevant tools. This program also provides suggestions for facilitating the development of less-favoured areas.
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Networking on the utilization of local natural resources
49-52Views:300Together with its partners, Szolnok College is planning to evaluate a new project for networking on the utilization of local natural resources. This project is based on a research work (using the findings of the surveys completed by the representatives of hosts living in the eastern part of Hungary). The project itself is based on the adaptation of the theory of tourism into practice by presenting existing natural values in the supply portfolio of tourist service providers. A unique natural environment can be found alongside a 120 km-long stretch of River Tisza. These natural values interlink and complete each other with respect to Lake Tisza and River Tisza. Regions and settlements situated further from the specified settlements are also rich in natural values which guests will definitely be pleased to get acquainted with. The six landscape centres (including LHH regions) alongside river Tisza (in the two regions) symbolise the interdependent system of the sample area of the project while a single landscape centre in the Pásztó Minor Region embodies a unique character. A register will be prepared for each landscape centre containing unique natural values that can be involved in the tourist supply and handicraft/economic activities (e.g. basket weaving, floodplain economy) that are or can be built on these natural values. A pictorial English/German-Hungarian professional dictionary summarises the distinctive nature of landscape centres. The education material demonstrating the registers is going to be developed both in conventional and electronic form; its spatial IT appearance on the Internet is considered a special feature. The education material will be supplemented with other information currently missing such as those related to environmentally friendly economy, and the legal context. The methodology allows the adaptation of the method in other regions, even in the whole country. The new qualifying and benchmarking system and the trademark managed by a profession-specific cluster that strengthens network co-operation and controls the development guarantee the achievement of high quality tourism.
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Regional benchmarking process in cognac project (Coordination of RDI policies and their coherence with other policies in the Newly Acceded Countries)
29-32Views:292In order to achieve the Lisbon objectives and create a knowledge based society, Europe needs to increase and improve investment in R&D. This requires improving the effectiveness and coherence of research policies at European, national and regional levels. The first cycle of application of the open method of co-ordination (OMC) to the 3% objective provided an overview of the Member States policies in a number of areas, facilitated mutual learning and led to a number of policy recommendations adopted by CREST in October 2004. The current regional benchmarking practice is made with in a 6th Framework Programme project called Cognac, which is the acronym for Coordination of R&D&I policies and their coherence with other policies in NewlyAcceded Countries. The project is focusing on two priority subjects: public research spending and policy mixes and SMEs and research. The project was supported within the first cycle of the RTD-OMC NET call. The benchmarking exercise tries to show the differences in the performance of participating regions. It supposed to choose the best regions at NUTS II level by the two priority topic of the project: “Public research spending and policy mixes” and “SMEs and research”. Geographically the analysis covers the area of the eight partnering regions.
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The competitiveness of rural areas in the Republic of Tatarstan
89-96Views:318This paper analyses the main factors influencing the regional competitiveness of rural areas in the Tatarstan Republic. Firstly, 19 variables related to the socio-economic situation in the Tatarstan Republic were analysed, these having been taken from the Statistics Committee of the Tatarstan Republic. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then used to determine the weights of 10 indicators that have an effect on the level of regional competitiveness. Factor weights are used as weights in the summation of the standardised scores of variables that have an impact on competitiveness. The major factors influencing the level of regional competitiveness are the level of economically active population, investment in housing and the level of education. The following results were obtained: one of the 44 regions is very highly competitive and two are highly competitive; two of 44 regions have a medium level of competitiveness and 39 regions have a low level of competitiveness.
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Green house gas mitigation and headline targets of Europe 2020 strategy
109-117Views:363Climate change is considered as one of the biggest challenges of XXI century and global action is needed to mitigate greenhouse gases (GHG) and adapt to changing water levels and temperatures, which affect food supply and ecosystem integrity. Climate change will have significant economic and social impacts in many regions of EU and sectors like agriculture is considered to bear greater adverse affects. Less developed regions and certain sections of society (the elderly and/or low-income households) are expected to suffer more from climate change. Climate change policy of EU, adopted in December 2008, includes ambitious targets for 2020. The policy is focused on a sustainable future with an energy-efficient economy by (i) cutting greenhouse gases by 20% (30% if international agreement is reached), (ii) reducing energy consumption by 20% through increased energy efficiency and iii) meeting 20% of energy needs from renewable sources. In the frame of the headline targets of Europe 2020 Strategy, this paper discusses most important greenhouse gas-emitting activities in agriculture, emphasizes the importance structural changes through the modernisation of infrastructure particularly in developing regions of EU and calls for enhancing the competitiveness of economy to promote energy efficiency.
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WHAT KINDS OF COMPETENCES DO WE REQUIRE AT THE EMPLOYMENT MARKET? JOB ADVERTISEMENTS REVIEW BASED ON COLLECTED DATA FROM WORKLINE.HU JOB-SEEKING SITE
Views:364The epidemic of coronavirus induced radical changes on the employment market as well, hence we may reasonably ask what (new) competences do we have to own to become successful in seeking jobs. The goal of this research is to shed light on the employment market’s new competence demands by analysing job offers found on the website workline.hu. Execution of the investigation took place during the Spring of 2022, during which 410 job vacancies were examined. By utilizing the method of content-analysis, the most important competences were defined first, and then, using KSH’s employment rate statistics, crosstab analysis have revelaed the developments of the most paramount key competences, specializations, competence expectations and connections between the regions. Ultimately, I have determined the foreign language knowledge demanded by employers, and other requirements displayed in the advertisements. Based on the results, the most important key competences include precision, independent working skills and excellent communication skills, which fulfilled a major role in sortments both by regions or national economy sectors. Furthermore, the higher skill demands of inviting applications originated from Transdanubial regions were also corroborated. Beyond said competences, however, numerous other factors (consisting but not limited to: computer science knowledge, B-category driver’s license) may also play a significant role during selection of employees. That being said, the examination did not confirm bigger successfulness rate amongst people with foreign language knowledge. Further investigation of the study includes compare and contrast or results with the competence demands found on other job advertisement portals.
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Estimating the economic potential of rural microregions
71-79Views:283Experts have been involved in the problems of determining microregions in Hungary since their establishment. In Hungary, the microregions (NUTS17 IV) were established by top-down method. This system cut through existing economic and cultural connections. The villages set up their own bottom-up microregions, which have tighter connections than the official regions. In my article, I estimate the economic potential of two regions, the regions Erdôspuszta (Hungary) and Hohenlohe (Germany), after analyzing the relevant literature on determining economic potential. Projects realized by enterprises and civil organizations have strategic significance in the economies of settlements, and it is true that their developers are not members of the formal management of the settlement. The local governments, however, should conduct realization and topdown of projects, and they have to have an image of the future and strategic plans. The present Hungarian practice, which appears in supply oriented applications, is not expedient over the long-run.The projects of settlements are run parallel to each other; they therefore fail to reach any synergic effect. The aim is harmonizing and building projects onto each other.
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Regional identity in rural development: Three case studies of regional branding
19-24Views:653Within the globalizing world, regions and their identities are subjected to great pressure. At present, places are engaged in a process of “territorial competition” in an integrated world economy. The identity of the region can be used as a starting point to brand a region and differentiate it from others. In the regional branding process, the region as a whole becomes a product or brand and offers a “basket” of regional products and services. Regional branding is aimed at creating a more distinctive image or reputation, which helps to increase regional competitiveness. This paper discusses the possibility of regional identity as a mobilizing force for rural development, by studying best practice examples of regional branding. Using the grounded theory approach, we conducted interviews in three case regions:West Cork (Ireland), Groene Woud (the Netherlands) and Pajottenland (Belgium). The study of these cases led to the formulation of critical success factors on the organization of regional branding. Comparative analysis of the cases demonstrates the importance of passionate initiators as ambassadors of the region and the advantage of a well-coordinated internal network in the region. Next to that, the internal marketing of the region is considered an important critical success factors.
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Semi-subsistence farming situation and policy – the example of Hungary
143-148Views:291In Hungary small farms have played very important role since collectivization (1959-61). Up to radical changes small households have received strong support from coops in the field of providing inputs on one side and, marketing their products on the other. The latter was disrupted by radical reforms and small farms started struggling with survival under market conditions. Government took measures to provide a development path for those having a chance to become competitive after five years development. Three calls (2004, 205 and 2006) were released. In Hungary SSF from three regions were more interested in getting the grant as North Great Plain, South Transdanubia and South Great Plain. All three regions are agriculture dominated ones. The policy with the call has reached a very moderate number of SSFs and, on the other side small farms, either because not meeting the criteria of the call or not wanted to take the additional costs of being registered and monitored for such a small amount of support decided not to apply. The paper ends with policy lessons.
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AGRIPRENEURSHIP AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED RURAL NIGERIA: DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE RURAL WOMEN AGRIPRENEURSHIP EMPOWERMENT INDEX (RWAEI)
Views:178The Rural Women Agripreneurship Empowerment Index (RWAEI), a multifaceted instrument for assessing the empowerment results of agripreneurial engagement among rural women in Northeastern Nigerian regions affected by conflict, is introduced in this study. The study examines how access to mechanization, farm production, hired labor, and market engagement contribute to long-term economic inclusion, decision-making authority, and community leadership in addition to job creation. It is framed within Sen's Capability Approach and Gendered Institutions Theory. The study uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), mediation analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) to validate the empowerment pathways and build the RWAEI model using data from 1,146 rural women in Gombe, Bauchi, and Adamawa. The findings show that the relationship between agripreneurship and empowerment is significantly mediated by labor employment and machine access.The index provides a context-specific metric for evaluating the agency and resilience of rural women, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.812. The results back up the combination of focused capacity-building initiatives and gender-sensitive agricultural policies to increase the effect of agribusiness. By shifting from output-based models to capability-focused empowerment assessment, the study advances the conversation around agripreneurship and has wide ranging implications for poverty alleviation, post-conflict recovery, and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Success factors of international sporting events in different regions of Europe
25-29Views:522Sport events always played an important role in human life from the ancient Olympics and marathon races to today’s modern Olympics, World and continental championships. In our days these remarkable sport events come to the fore because participants of the sporting world effectuate even more, greater and more varied ones. Furthermore, the competition for organisation between cities and countries is becoming more and more intense (Zeman 2005). The organisation of international sporting events is an extremely complicated and multiple task. The organising committee has to manage the duties and activities, to co-ordinate the participants’ work, to satisfy the needs of international sport association(s), sponsors and other stakeholders. Within the frame of the research we reveal the success factors of international sporting events in different segments of Europe, and in addition to this compare the event organization practices of analysed regions along the identified success factors. In this study we represent the results of a quantitative research, where organizers of World and European Championships – organised between 2000 and 2008 in different European countries – were asked and statistical analyses have been applied. According to our results beside the essential technical and task oriented areas the human aspects of organisation, the partnerships, coordination and communication are all-important factors. Especially in countries of East-Central Europe, where organisers have to pay more attention on selection, control of partners as well as on continuous communication with them in order to assure accurate performance in time.
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Comparative analysis of menus in the Northern and Southern Great Plain touristic regions
71-75Views:298The background of the study is based on previous studies dealing with the areas of Transdanubia and Central Hungary. Those works have proved the hypothesis of author that local ingredients and dishes represent minimum role on menus. The question is how similar or different the choice of menus of Northern and Southern Great Plain is from the previously examined areas of Hungary.Additional questions may also arise in terms of the usage of local ingredients available near catering units. This piece of work has studied several menus of Northern and Southern Great Plain, Hungary.The material was collected from different types of restaurants, ‘csárda’-s and inns. The methodology was two-tier: data collecting on the one hand, and the detailed examination of differences between the catering units on the other hand: the number of dishes, the right order of dishes, the appearance of local ingredients and dishes, the consideration of seasonality, the usage of different cooking methods and group of dishes. The study reflects the main problems of countryside restaurants in Hungary. Only a minimum number of dishes could be connected to local dishes out of more thousands.All in all, dishes are not as precise and perfect as the ‘old ones’used to be; that is why it is important for every expert to keep traditions alive in daily routines and by way of strategic means too.
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Comparative analysis of menus in the Northern and Southern Great Plain touristic regions
63-64Views:318The background of the study is based on previous studies dealing with the areas of Transdanubia and Central Hungary. Those works have proved the hypothesis of author that local ingredients and dishes represent minimum role on menus. The question is how similar or different the choice of menus of Northern and Southern Great Plain is from the previously examined areas of Hungary.Additional questions may also arise in terms of the usage of local ingredients available near catering units. This piece of work has studied several menus of Northern and Southern Great Plain, Hungary. The material was collected from different types of restaurants, ‘csárda’-s and inns. The methodology was two-tier: data collecting on the one hand, and the detailed examination of differences between the catering units on the other hand: the number of dishes, the right order of dishes, the appearance of local ingredients and dishes, the consideration of seasonality, the usage of different cooking methods and group of dishes. The study reflects the main problems of countryside restaurants in Hungary. Only a minimum number of dishes could be connected to local dishes out of more thousands.All in all, dishes are not as precise and perfect as the ‘old ones’used to be; that is why it is important for every expert to keep traditions alive in daily routines and by way of strategic means too.
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Climate change impact on crop production in Central Asian Countries
75-82Views:452Increased risk due to global warming has already become embedded in agricultural decision making in Central Asia and uncertainties are projected to increase even further. Agro-ecology and economies of Central Asia are heterogeneous and very little is known about the impact of climate change at the subnational levels. The bio-economic farm model is used for ex-ante assessment of climate change impacts at sub-national levels in Central Asia. The bio-economic farm model is calibrated to ten farming systems in Central Asia based on the household survey and crop growth experiment data. The production uncertainties and the adaptation options of agricultural producers to changing environments are considered paramount in the simulations. Very large differences in climate change impacts across the studied farming systems are found. The positive income gains in large-scale commercial farms in the northern regions of Kazakhstan and negative impact in small-scale farms in arid zones of Tajikistan are likely to happen. Producers in Kyrgyzstan may expect higher revenues but also higher income volatilities in the future. Agricultural producers in Uzbekistan may benefit in the near future but may lose their income in the distant future. The negative impacts could be further aggravated in arid zones of Central Asia if irrigation water availability decline due to climate change and water demand increase in upstream regions. The scenario simulations show that market liberalization and improved commodity exchange between the countries have very good potential to cope with the negative consequences of climate change.
JEL classification: Q11, Q18
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THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL FARM RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON REDUCING CREDIT RISK IN TANZANIA AGRICULTURAL LENDING
Views:210Agricultural financing enhances food security, job creation, a transition from subsistence to commerce farming, and strengthens the overall economy. However, due to unfavorable weather and market conditions there is limited financing directed towards agriculture especially in developing countries. Despite smallholder farmers' high adoption rate of traditional risk management strategies to minimize these risks, little has been done to examine its moderating role on the relationship between agricultural risks and credit risks. Thus, this study examines the role of farm business risk management strategies on minimizing the influences of production and market risk on smallholder farmers loan repayment capacity. The quantitative study used pooled cross-sectional data from a Tanzanian commercial bank from 2019 to 2021, covering 1,277 smallholder farmers from different administrative regions. Using binary interaction effect logistic regression analysis model, the study's results indicate that irrigation, mechanization, and off-farm diversification significantly minimizes the effects of production and market risk amongst smallholder farmers in Tanzania, an indication that traditional risk management strategies are effective tools amongst smallholder farmers. On the contrary, on-farm diversification strengthens the influence of production and market risk on loan repayment amongst the smallholder farmers in Tanzania, the results that can be influenced by a number of factors, including poor diversification knowledge among smallholder farmers. In light of these findings, the study recommends that policy makers and other development partners to develop agricultural infrastructure and provide more extension agents that can educate smallholder farmers on the best practices on traditional risk management.
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Bicycle tourism in Hungary
67-71Views:777Side by side with the revaluation of a health-oriented lifestyle various kinds of axtive leisure activities and active tourism in particular have been gaining ground. Cycling, which is popular not only as a leisure time tourism activity but mainly within settlements, also as an environmentally-friendly and up to a certain extent, a highly practicable means of transport mainly in towns and cities in WesternEurope, has a privileged position within active tourism (SALAMIN, 2010). This article wishes to present the situation of bicycle tourism, the factors influencing the demand for it and the opportunities for and possibilities of improving it within Hungary by providing an evaluative analysis of the relevant sources of the technical literature. The most important finding of this secondary research-based study is that there is an increasing contention both internationally and within certain regions of tourist interest within Hungary although there is no detailed information available as regards the latter. Success on the market can only be achieved by following the good practices of internationally developed tourist destinations and by a concerted development and improvement of the infrastructure, services and target-group oriented marketing activities as well as attractions.
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Competitiveness of Polish regional Agro-clusters
35-40Views:424The present paper concerns the analysis and evaluation of the performance of regional agro-clusters in Poland and also the examination of the significant basic factors which have influence on it. The objective of the paper is both to rank the 16 Polish regions according to their competitive position in the agrocomplex and to present their economic and social position, show differences and regional contrasts. Also, we compare the outcomes with the overall Polish regional competitive index, which was created in accordance with the Huggins Institute approach.
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Driving factors behind Uganda’s rural pastoral communities’ social-economic status; a comparison between Karamoja Region and Ankole Region
Views:661This study aimed to analyze the social-economic status of Karamoja, Uganda’s largest pastoral region that has consistently stood out as the least developed region in Uganda. The region is naturally endowed with a variety of minerals such as marble, limestone, gold, etc. This has attracted (both local and international) artisanal and small-scale miners into the region whose contribution to the region’s development seem negligible. The Majority of the residents derive their livelihoods from livestock as a primary source. Three major rural development aspects i.e., social, ecological, and economic dimensions were assessed and compared to the Ankole region, one of Uganda’s rural pastoral regions that have over time registered progress in livestock production and regional development. Based on this comparison, similarities and differences can be identified and used to build the foundation for the development of a SWOT analysis that will focus on the Strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that exist in this rural pastoral region of Karamoja. This study creates a cornerstone for developing sustainable rural development strategies based on a focused analysis of sociological factors that are fundamental in unmasking the ground reality in the region.
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Challenges to sustainable rural development in Russia: social issues and regional divergences
45-51Views:419Paper aims at investigation of contemporary approaches to sustainable rural development in Russia. It includes the overview of current experiences in rural development, analysis of major economic and social indicators of rural areas in comparison with urban ones. Analysis included the set of indicators such as number of rural people, number of rural settlements, rates of births and mortalities, natural and migration increases and declines of population, rates of employment and unemployment, average monthly nominal per capita wages, and level of the subsistence minimum. Indicators have been measured separately for rural and urban areas; regions have been grouped in relation to the particular indicator. The research is concluded by discovery of growth points for rural development and a set of recommendations on perspective measures of state and local policies in rural areas, directed on increase of living standards of rural population and retention of labour resources in their traditional rural areas of inhabitation.
JEL: Q18, P25
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Knowledge needs in rural tourism in Czech Republic
111-114Views:252Rural tourism has gone through an important development, but in the Czech Republic has only been possible to run a private business only in last 18 years. In Czech Republic that form of tourism is not very widespread, although there is great potential in it and the neighboring countries such as Austria or Germany are on a much higher level. For more intensive development and better competitiveness on the marker a proper education is necessary especially on the secondary level. An inquiry investigation has been provided. The responders were owners and operators of small businesses in rural tourism. The first part of the questionnaire was focused on the matters of ownership, running the business, promotion, internet services, etc.The subsequent part of the questionnaire gathered the information about the capacity of the places, the types and prices of accommodation, and the facilities. It also surveys the surroundings of the place – both natural and cultural sights.The survey has brought interesting facts about the level of the rural tourism of selected regions.The inquiry investigation was made by trained persons who gathered much information above the framework of the questionnaire. Many demands and complains were concerned with lack of specialized education, needs of new study programs and branches. There are many specifics of this branches, the most important is that there are more than 90% of micro firms. If we want to keep the special features of the rural tourism we have to prepare future entrepreneurs and employees in completely different way than those for big hotels, spas or congress centers.The contribution deals with the present status of rural tourism in Czech Republic and the educational need of the people involved.
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