Andrew Copus

Indicators of socio-economic sustainability: An application to remote rural Scotland☆

Abstract Although commonly used and relatively clearly defined in an environmental context, the concept of sustainability tends to be rather nebulous and confusing in the context of rural socio-economic development. In this paper it is defined in terms of three dimensions, structure, performance and dependence. These dimensions are assessed across three groups of socio-economic attributes, those concerned with demographic development, those relating to economic activity, and those associated with community and culture. The resulting sustainability matrix is a potentially valuable tool for assessing the socio-economic status of rural areas in developed countries. This is demonstrated by its application to remote rural areas in Scotland. In countries such as the U.K., which have a relatively long history of regional assistance, the true demographic and economic sustainability constraints of remote rural areas are to a large degree obscured by substantial transfers from more prosperous regions. This dependence is identified as the most important dimension of rural socio-economic sustainability in the Scottish context.

Innovation and Peripherality: An Empirical Comparative Study of SMEs in Six European Union Member Countries

Abstract This article examines the rates of innovative activity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in central areas and equally developed but less accessible areas in six European Union member states. The probability of innovating is well predicted by the observable characteristics of firms, entrepreneurial characteristics, and business networks. More accessible areas consistently present higher rates of innovative activity than do their peripheral counterparts. The difference in the rates of peripheral and central areas is decomposed into observable and non-observable factors. The entire innovation gap is attributed to nonobservable factors that constitute a combination of behavior and environment. Innovation policy for SMEs should aim to meet businesses’ specific needs (firm-specific factors) and to sustain and improve the innovative environment.

Mapping economic fragility: an assessment of the objective 5b boundaries in Scotland

Abstract This paper begins with a brief description of European Community rural development policy under Objective 5b of the Reformed Structural Policy and its implementation within Scotland. This is followed by a discussion of the various methods used, both by the U.K. Government, and by the European Commission, to delimit areas for policy purposes. In order to assess the targeting of European rural development assistance within Scotland, nine fragility indicator variables are selected on the basis of the criteria laid down for Objective 5b status. Synthetic fragility indices are then generated for the rural Districts and parishes of Scotland using both a simple procedure based on Z scores and Factor Analysis. The results suggest that the use of fairly large, and in many cases heterogeneous, administrative units as building blocks for the Scottish 5b areas has resulted in a poor fit between the boundaries and the distribution of fragility. It is shown that between 5000 and 6000 square kilometres of upland Scotland, at present without 5b status, are above the fragility threshold implied by the present boundary.

Local Embeddedness and Global Links in Rural Areas: Euclidean and Relational Space in Business Networks

Rural regions and small businesses are often assumed to be marginalised in relation to globalisation, which is perceived to be an urban phenomenon. However, emerging rural business network configurations contradict this commonly held view. This chapter presents an investigation of spatial and ‘relational’ structures in business networks of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in rural areas of five European countries. It argues that successful and dynamic firms derive ‘networking economies’ from frequent and effective interaction, both within the local business environment and with a more extensive set of linkages stretching out across Europe. New communication technologies allow entrepreneurs to communicate with contacts and institutional sources without the geographic limitations that would have hampered them just a decade ago. Actors such as local and county authorities, professional associations and European-funded business advisors increasingly act as ‘network brokers’ for local SMEs. In this way, ‘organised proximity’ is increasingly independent of geographic space, providing rural business with an alternative to agglomeration as a competition strategy.

Building a Typology of European Rural Areas for the Spatial Impact Assessment of Policies (TERA-SIAP)

Within the TERA-SIAP project, we developed a set of regional typologies (at NUTS3 level) which provide a suitable basis for Spatial Impact Assessments of a range of current and possible kinds of intervention (Generic Policy Issues) for rural areas. From a range of socio-economic models, we selected Regional Input-Output Models for the Spatial Impact Assessment of two Axis 3 measures (diversification of rural economy, and renovation and development of villages). One of the seven typologies developed, which focused on economic diversification, was used to identify a set of representative case study regions. The modelling results for the 16 case regions illustrated the fact that different types of rural economies are clearly associated with different patterns of policy impacts and that typologies can assist in the choice of appropriate representative regions. The combination of typologies and models are shown to have the potential to enhance the capacity for quantitative Spatial Impact Assessment of rural policy.

Regional poverty mapping in Europe – Challenges, advances, benefits and limitations

The ‘at-risk-of-poverty’ rate is the most widely recognised indicator of income poverty. Its principal advantage is that it is relatively straightforward to define and (given appropriate data) to calculate. National at-risk-of-poverty rates play a key role in monitoring EU2020 objectives relating to combating poverty. Regional patterns of poverty have the potential to deepen our understanding of processes of impoverishment and differentiation, and how they can be more effectively addressed by policy. Estimating regional poverty rates, and especially producing a European map, is a challenging task, given current data resources. This paper begins by placing the at-risk-of-poverty rate within the wider conceptual context relating to poverty, social exclusion and deprivation. It then provides an account of an exercise to map at-risk-of-poverty rates at NUTS 3 across 20 European countries. Together with data derived from national registers (where available) and more direct apportionment methods, coverage of most of Western Europe is achieved. The patterns revealed are described, and generalisations, which serve as pointers to further research on the processes responsible, are derived. The paper concludes with some reflections on the value of regional at-risk-of-poverty rates in advancing our understanding of the distribution and causes of poverty, and hence appropriate interventions to ameliorate it.

The Transaction Footprints of Scottish Food And Drink SMEs

Abstract This paper presents a survey approach to measuring the “transaction footprints” of rural small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Combined with a graphical presentation of results, this contributes to the evidence base on the roles of local and global linkages. Findings suggest that the food and drink industry of Scotland is relatively localised in its input and sales interaction pattern, although substantial variations, associated with product specialisms, remoteness/accessibility, input purchasing and marketing strategies, exist. Localised SMEs have weathered the recession slightly better, but more outward-looking in firms tend to have greater optimism about the future. Transaction footprint analysis should be viewed as component of an ongoing process of re-mapping the network infrastructure of the rural economy, alongside analysis of untraded interdependencies, and institutional networks in the realm of governance.