Entrepreneurship has been widely considered as the power that drives development and well-being in the regions it affects. As a result, local, regional and national institutions, as well as researches in different disciplines, have focused on finding and researching the factors leading to the installation of business on a certain location. Therefore, it seems well-timed to present a quantitative survey of the literature review of this field. The scope of this article is to present past and present research studies related to the business location factors (BLF) identifying the most important sub-topics, contributors and their geographical distribution, major outlets, main empirical methodologies employed, as well as the most frequently studied countries. The presentation and documentation of the existing literature review could be a valuable tool for policy makers in the regional and national level, as well as for active entrepreneurs and researchers engaged in relevant academic disciples. Policy makers could take advantage of the BLF to attract investments in regions seeking development while active entrepreneurs could realize the important role played by the factors affecting the location of their business in a specific place and researchers could trace and fill in potential research voids on this subject.
The business environment that prevails in a region has a significant influence on the businesses operating in that geographical area. A strong business environment can enhance not only the growth and success of businesses, but also their retention and sustainable development in the area. The literature review shows that a small number of empirical studies have examined the business environment in rural areas. This research attempts to highlight the factors (road access, technology infrastructure, etc.) that make up the business environent in rural areas, as well as to clarify the degree of satisfaction that the entrepreneurs themselves derive from them. For the purposes of the survey, a questionnaire was filled in by 240 entrepreneurs from rural areas in the Regional Unit (RU) of Serres, in the northern part of Greece, who assessed their satisfaction with the business environment using a five-point Likert-type scale, through personal interviews. The principal component analysis identified six factors, which showed higher satisfaction among the categories of “infrastructure” and “social capital”.
Food Tours as part of gastronomic tourism, are in their early stage of development worldwide. The literature on gastronomic tourism is constantly increasing over the last few decades, yet research on food tours and their contribution to forming a gastronomic experience is rather limited. In Greece, food tours and the way they can enhance the gastronomic profile of the destination have not been widely explored yet through the entrepreneurial aspect of food tour offerings. This paper attempts to identify food tours in Greece, analyze the profile and the characteristics of food tours, as well as their role in highlighting local products and local gastronomy. Quantitative research was conducted based on data obtained by a questionnaire addressed to entrepreneurs of food tours operating in cities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants (19 cities) in Greece. Research results revealed that companies of food tours in Greece are only recently created (over the last three years), small in size (1 -3 employees), and operate throughout the year, most intensively during the summer touristic period, usually in the form of 3-hour walking tours over the city's gastronomic spots. The authenticity of the local gastronomic places and products and the quality of the contact with the locals create an unforgettable culinary experience. From a practical point of view, the presentation of food tours as a tool to promote gastronomic tourism can generate synergies with the local agri-food sector to provide unique culinary experiences for tourists, while also supporting local authorities in designing an appealing gastronomic profile of the destination. The contribution of this research is that it investigates a rather unexplored topic of growing importance for Greek tourism, both for local economies and communities.
Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή έχει ως κεντρικό στόχο την ανάδειξη της διαδρα-στικής σχέσης μεταξύ επιχειρηματικότητας και ποιότητας ζωής στον αγροτικό χώρο. Από τη μια διερευνά αν ο παράγοντας της ποιότητας ζωής αποτελεί σημαντικό πα-ράγοντα εγκατάστασης των επιχειρήσεων στις αγροτικές περιοχές και από την άλλη αν οι εγκατεστημένες επιχειρήσεις στις περιοχές αυτές συμβάλλουν και με ποιο τρόπο στην ποιότητα ζωής των κατοίκων των περιοχών αυτών.Η διαδραστική αυτή σχέση εξετάστηκε εμπειρικά με επιτόπια έρευνα και με τη χρή-ση δομημένου ερωτηματολογίου σε 240 επιχειρηματίες της ΠΕ Σερρών. Βάσει των αποτελεσμάτων της έρευνας προέκυψε ότι η επιχειρηματικότητα στις αγροτικές πε-ριοχές αναπτύσσεται κυρίως από ντόπιους που υποκινούνται από την ανάγκη για κοινωνικό-οικονομική επίτευξη και αναγνώριση επιχειρηματικών ευκαιριών. Οι επι-χειρήσεις που δημιουργούν είναι μικρού μεγέθους, κυρίως αυτοαπασχόλησης και προσανατολισμένες στον καταναλωτή με την παροχή προϊόντων – χονδρικό και λια-νικό εμπόριο- για την κάλυψη των αναγκών του.Οι επιχειρηματίες ανέδειξαν την ποιότητα ζωής ως ένα από τους τρεις σημαντικότε-ρους παράγοντες εγκατάστασης της επιχείρησής τους στις αγροτικές περιοχές και επισήμαναν ότι η παραμονή τους σ’αυτές, οφείλεται κυρίως στην ικανοποίηση που αντλούν από το τρίπτυχο: υποδομές μεταφορών/ τεχνολογίας, τόπος εγκατάστασης και το κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο. Οι ίδιοι ακόμη περιέγραψαν τον τρόπο με τον οποίο η επιχείρησή τους συμβάλλει στην ποιότητα ζωής των κατοίκων του τόπου που ε-δρεύει η επιχείρησή τους.Εν κατακλείδι, οι επιχειρήσεις στον αγροτικό χώρο εγκαθίστανται και για λόγους ποιότητας ζωής, αλλά και συμβάλλουν με τις δραστηριότητές τους σ’αυτή. Για την ανάδειξη της αμφίδρομης και διαδραστικής σχέση μεταξύ επιχειρηματικότητας και ποιότητας ζωής στις αγροτικές περιοχές αναπτύχθηκε τυπολογία επιχειρηματιών βάσει των παραγόντων εγκατάστασης, καταλήγοντας σε τρεις τύπους επιχειρημα-τιών: “Κυριότητας”, “Ανάγκης” και “Συναισθηματικός”.
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