Simona Škarabelová

The role of third sector organizations in rural development

Third sector organizations reflect and shape community conditions. To show their role and importance in rural development we present theoretical and empirical approach to the rural third sector. The paper is based on a new economic theory of the third sector, the “rurality theory”. This theory was formulated by Vladislav Valentinov and assumes that the existence of the third sector is caused by the limitations of for-profit firms’ ability to satisfy human needs. The argument to their limitations is characteristics of rural areas and the resulting “rurality specific costs”. Thus, the rurality theory’s general hypothesis is that the rurality-specific transaction cost gives rise to the emergence of rural third sector organizations. There is some empirical evidence from different countries (e.g. USA and Belgium) either confirming or refuting the rural-urban distinction as a determinant of the third sector`s role in rural development. The paper presents the survey outline “Third sector organizations in rural development: a theoretical and empirical analysis” on the case of the Czech Republic. The research activities are expected to deliver a critical mass of theoretical and empirical material for testing the rurality theory.