The New European Rurality Strategies for Small Firms Economic Geography Series

Public concern over issues such as urban sprawl, the conversion of agricultural land and the management of public lands has never been greater. Presenting a novel synopsis of the economics of land-use this book examines the critical issues involved, such as transportation and technological change, and the economic principles behind them. Chapters are specifically designed to demonstrate the types of land-use questions economic analysis can answer; the types of methods that might be employed to answer the questions; and the potential uses of economic analysis in policy-making. The book is a key contribution to contemporary land-use studies, highlighting the main methodological and public policy issues that will be central to research on the economics of land-use change in the future.

Contents: New Perspectives on European Rurality and Entrepreneurship: Rural Europe and small firms: a strategic positioning and synthesis, Teresa de Noronha Vaz, Eleanor J. Morgan and Peter Nijkamp; Entrepreneurship in small enterprises and local development, Teresa de Noronha Vaz. Determinants of structural change in peripheral regions: accessibility, innovative milieu and the innovative activity of businesses in EU peripheral and lagging areas, Andrew Copus and Dimitris Skuras; Human capital as the critical factor for the development of Europe's rural peripheral areas, Lois Labrianidis; Agri-food districts: theory and evidence, Cristina Brasili and Roberto Fanfani; The embeddedness of small enterprises within the rural local economy of small and medium sized towns, Eveline S. van Leeuwen and Peter Nijkamp. New Strategies in Small Business Development: Organizational success factors in local agri-food industries, Gabriella Vindigni, Peter Nijkamp, Giuseppina Carrà and Iuri Peri; The implementation of information and communication technologies in SMEs, Martine Boutary and M-Christine Monnoyer; Break out strategies of ethnic entrepreneurs, Tüzin Baycan Levent, Enno Masurel and Peter Nijkamp; Rural entrepreneurship: an innovation and marketing perspective, Anabela Dinis. Case Studies: The adoption of information and communication technologies among smaller food firms in rural areas of Greece, Elena Georgoudaki, Efthalia Dimara and Dimitris Skuras; The allocation of public support to small food firms in Belgium, Ireland and the UK, Tessa Avermaete, Jacques Viaene and Eleanor J. Morgan in co-operation with Eamonn Pitts, Nick Crawford, Denise Mahon and Xavier Gellynck; A medium term economic outlook for cyclical markets: a case study of Mexican pig farms, Myriam Villegas Sagarnaga, Rene Ochoa Ochoa, González José Salas, Edmundo Haro and Figueroa Guillermina García; Adopting innovations in agriculture: an exploratory analysis using discrete choice models, Shlomo Bekhor, Daniel Shefer and Mordechai Cohen; Assisting small and medium sized enterprises: innovation policies for rural areas, Federica Cisilino; Attitudes to territorial innovation processes in Raia central Ibérica, Felisberto Marques Reigado, Paulo Alexandre Neto and Maria Manuela dos Santos Natário; Index.

Teresa de Noronha Vaz is Professor of Regional Economics, and Economics of Innovation at the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve, Portugal. Eleanor Morgan is Senior Lecturer in the School of Management at the University of Bath, UK. Peter Nijkamp is Professor at the Department of Spatial Economics at Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.