Rural entrepreneurship: the tale of a rare event

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine whether new rural ventures represent effective rural entrepreneurship or are just entrepreneurial ventures located in rural settings. Design\methodology\approach Data were collected from a direct questionnaire involving 408 new ventures headquartered in Portuguese business incubators and science parks, of which 142 are located in rural areas. To analyse data, the authors performed a preliminary and exploratory statistical analysis. Findings The authors demonstrate that only a small percentage of ventures operating in rural areas constitute examples of effective “rural entrepreneurship”, with the bulk of them being just enterprises located in rural settings. Rural new ventures tend to be small (in terms of employees and turnover), rely mainly on the internal market and lag behind other new ventures (located in both rural and urban municipalities) in terms of performance. Research limitations/implications The study only includes new knowledge-intensive ventures, that is, those headquartered in business incubators and science parks. Therefore, it cannot be generalised to other new ventures located in rural settings. Originality/value The extant literature on entrepreneurship has neglected the empirical implications of mixing, confounding and/or merging the concepts of “rural entrepreneurship” and “entrepreneurship activities in rural areas”. In this study, the authors discuss and analyse the empirical boundaries of such concepts and uncover the magnitude of pure “rural entrepreneurship”.

Romancing the rural: Reconceptualizing rural entrepreneurship as engagement with context(s)

“…The 'rural' seems the container for our topic and that 'rural' has spatial, social and economic boundaries. Yet that simple assumption raises issues about the nature of what we study (Pato and Teixeira, 2018). Is it about entrepreneurship in the rural context; or about a form of enterprising that arises uniquely in rural areas?…”

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Towards Rural Development Evidence from a Peripheral Area in Portugal

“…Despite keen interest in rural entrepreneurship and the emergence of interesting surveys on the issue (McElwee & Smith, 2014;Pato & Teixeira, 2016), with some exceptions (e.g. Korsgaard, Müller, et al, 2015;Pato & Teixeira, 2018), very few studies look into the nature, characteristics and benefits of "pure rural entrepreneurship", mainly in peripheral areas. Therefore, this study focuses on the role of rural entrepreneurship towards the development of an inland and mountainous area of Portugal-Montemuro and the key of rural and social innovation in the process.…”

Kewirausahaan berbasis Komunitas : Model Bisnis untuk Pengelolaan Aset dan Infrastruktur

“…Penelitian ini mengkonfirmasi kajian sebelumnya yang berpendapat bahwa kewirausahaan social berbasis masyarakat berperan penting dalam menciptakan keseimbangan modal sosial di suatu wilayah (Sommerville & McElwee, 2011;Beck & Brooks, 2019) dengan mengembangkan proses produksi dan konsumsi alternatif (Dentoni, et al, 2018) . Namun demikian, temuan ini berbeda dengan tipikal organisasi bisnis di kawasan pedesaan, yang mengandalkan pasar internal dan kurang berhasil dalam mencapai target dibandingkan perusahaan lain (Pato & Teixeira, 2018).…”