Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development

A special issue of Economies (ISSN 2227-7099). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 7767

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Human and Economic Geography, University of Bucharest, 0010041 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: economics; cultural geography; sustainable rural economy; social economics; economic impacts
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Human and Economic Geography, University of Bucharest, 0010041 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable tourism; economic development; communities resilience; cultural heritage; territorial dynamics; creative economy; leisure industries and well-being; other societal and human geographies issues

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Guest Editor
Department of Human and Economic Geography, University of Bucharest, 0010041 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: identity heritage assessment and responsible resource management; representations of territorial identity and development; deindustrialization and adaptive reuse of industrial heritage; territorial dynamics; urban planning; urban regeneration; economic geography; geography of resources; rural development in less-favoured areas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rural development is one of the most complex topical research issues, demanding complex interdisciplinary research proposing multifunctional sustainable economic development models based on theoretical and empirical studies underscoring socio-economic indicators which may improve policy approaches to analysis evaluation and decision making.

Changes in rural development policies from a sectoral to a multisectoral perspective and, further, to a territorial approach, ultimately embracing a local community development perspective, emphasize the need to provide socio-economic indicators related to rural development that may cope with multifunctional areas displaying nuanced local economies, which are sometimes dominated by agriculture, tourism, or local industries.

Moreover, rural environments are perhaps the ones experiencing the most severe recent changes, and the current orientation of agricultural policies and local economies in different rural regions is concerned, now more than ever, with environmental issues and sustainability aspects.

This Special Issue on Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development invites researchers to submit theoretical or empirical papers focusing on topics related to rural development indicators, models, or case studies; the sustainable socio-economic development of worldwide rural regions regardless of their scale; rural development policies and the role of decision makers and other stakeholders in addressing challenges in sustainable rural development; community engagement in linking agriculture with other economic sectors (e.g., tourism); etc. We welcome your contributions, including, but not limited to, the above directions.

Dr. Camelia Teodorescu
Dr. Ana-Irina Lequeux-Dincă
Dr. Florentina-Cristina Merciu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • rural development
  • regional/local economies
  • socio-economic indicators
  • resilient communities
  • sustainable agriculture
  • rural tourism
  • smart villages

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 331 KiB  
Article
Exploring Education-Induced Bargaining Power of Women on Household Welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa
by Raymond Boadi Frempong and David Stadelmann
Economies 2024, 12(11), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12110293 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 554
Abstract
Women’s education and empowerment have engaged the interest of policymakers and academics for many years. We employ individual-level data from Ghana and Uganda in this paper to offer a comparative analysis of the impact of women’s education and empowerment on six household welfare [...] Read more.
Women’s education and empowerment have engaged the interest of policymakers and academics for many years. We employ individual-level data from Ghana and Uganda in this paper to offer a comparative analysis of the impact of women’s education and empowerment on six household welfare indicators: child labor, child school enrollment, female labor force participation, fertility rate, household food expenditure, and nutrition intake. Comparing the two countries is insightful due to their distinct socio-economic structures and cultural contexts, which might influence the dynamics of women’s empowerment differently. The study utilizes the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Instrumental Variables (IV) regressions and provides a battery of robustness tests. The empirical results show that in a household, the woman’s and man’s education levels are significant determinants of household welfare. However, contrary to common assumptions, the woman’s education does not have a stronger effect than the man’s, and her relative bargaining position has negligible effects on the welfare indicators studied, at least for the cases of Ghana and Uganda. Further sensitivity checks support these findings, suggesting that female education can improve household welfare, but its impact may not necessarily operate through enhanced bargaining power within the household. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development)
19 pages, 1179 KiB  
Article
Social Programs and Socioeconomic Variables: Their Impact on Peruvian Regional Poverty (2013–2022)
by J. Adolfo Hinojosa Pérez, Hernán Ricardo Briceño Avalos, Ivonne Yanete Vargas Salazar and Sergio Christian Carrasco Mamani
Economies 2024, 12(8), 197; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12080197 - 29 Jul 2024
Viewed by 2414
Abstract
The aim of this research is to establish the extent to which social programs and socioeconomic variables have been influencing poverty in the 24 Peru regions (2013–2022). The study is quantitative, non-experimental, and correlational. We use secondary data obtained from official sources such [...] Read more.
The aim of this research is to establish the extent to which social programs and socioeconomic variables have been influencing poverty in the 24 Peru regions (2013–2022). The study is quantitative, non-experimental, and correlational. We use secondary data obtained from official sources such as the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics, Ministry of Economy and Finance, as well as the Peruvian Institute of Economics. For estimations, we use the Generalized Method of Moments System and dynamic panel data. The results indicate that Juntos, Pensión 65, Qali Warma, and Trabaja Perú social programs, with p-values of 0.383, 0.715, 0.681, and 0.870, respectively, have not had favorable impacts on reducing poverty. On the contrary, negative coefficients for human capital and physical infrastructure mean that improving them will reduce poverty at the regional level. A year more in schooling for the population aged over 15 years reduces poverty between 1.7% and 1.2%. Increasing 10% of the proportion of national roads in paved condition reduces poverty levels between 1.9% and 2.4%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development)
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18 pages, 3180 KiB  
Article
‘Unlock the Complexity’: Understanding the Economic and Political Pathways Underlying the Transition to Climate-Smart Smallholder Forage-Livestock Systems: A Case Study in Rwanda
by Chiara Perelli, Luca Cacchiarelli, Mutimura Mupenzi, Giacomo Branca and Alessandro Sorrentino
Economies 2024, 12(7), 177; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12070177 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1048
Abstract
The livestock-dairy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Rwanda, is experiencing rapid growth due to population expansion, urbanisation, and changing food preferences. The unmet local production demands are causing soil and water pollution, competition for biomass, land, and water, but also grassland degradation, [...] Read more.
The livestock-dairy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Rwanda, is experiencing rapid growth due to population expansion, urbanisation, and changing food preferences. The unmet local production demands are causing soil and water pollution, competition for biomass, land, and water, but also grassland degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased GHGs emissions. Rwanda has the lowest productivity in the region, largely due to inadequate and poor-quality livestock feed resources. To increase animal productivity, promoting forage species with higher nutritional value and better adaptation to drought-prone and poor-fertility soils could be beneficial. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study explores Brachiaria forage adoption and profitability and analyses policy objectives and measures to overcome adoption barriers and promote the transition from subsistence to market-oriented systems. Results show that Brachiaria, although advantageous from an economic point of view, is characterised by very low adoption rates. Furthermore, access to extension programmes is limited and often not supported by adequate incentives. To overcome such barriers, policy interventions should be harmonised and information and knowledge management prioritised, public and private extension and advisory services (EASs) programmes coordinated, agricultural input subsidies increased, and institutional coordination promoted to enhance climate-smart animal feeding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development)
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22 pages, 5969 KiB  
Article
What Factors Are Limiting Financial Inclusion and Development in Peru? Empirical Evidence
by Sergio Luis Náñez Alonso, Javier Jorge-Vazquez, Lieslie Gallegos Arias and Noelia Muñoz del Nogal
Economies 2024, 12(4), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/economies12040093 - 16 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2872
Abstract
Despite recent efforts in Peru to boost financial inclusion, significant issues of exclusion persist, especially among vulnerable groups. This article aims to identify and analyze areas at risk of financial exclusion using a multifaceted methodology: the Financial Access Survey (FAS) for comparative analysis [...] Read more.
Despite recent efforts in Peru to boost financial inclusion, significant issues of exclusion persist, especially among vulnerable groups. This article aims to identify and analyze areas at risk of financial exclusion using a multifaceted methodology: the Financial Access Survey (FAS) for comparative analysis (Peru versus other countries and regions), geographical-distribution analysis, and the Access to Cash Index (ACI) methodology. Findings reveal that remote rural areas of Peru, particularly those inland, as well as mountainous or jungle regions, face higher risks of financial exclusion due to low digital literacy, limited digital banking usage, sparse branch and ATM networks, and inadequate transportation infrastructure. These insights can inform targeted public policies to enhance financial inclusion in Peru, as well as the development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Economic Indicators Relating to Rural Development)
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