Search results for "rural"

The impact of corporate characteristics on the financial decisions of companies: Evidence on funding decisions by Italian SMEs

2015

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent a large percentage of the corporate tissue of developed countries, but they do not have adequate attention. In fact, various researchers have focused their studies on larger and well-known companies. This paper aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristic on the financial choices of SMEs, with a specific focus on agro-food micro companies. Access to finance is vital in business start-up, development and growth for SMEs, all with very different needs and facing different challenges in terms of finance compared to large companies. The lack of equity invested in small enterprises makes them more dependent on other external sources (e.…

Green Barons, Force-of-Circumstance Entrepreneurs, Impotent Mayors. Rural Change in the Early Years of Post-Socialist Capitalist Democracy

2015

Measuring consumers’ level of satisfaction for online food shopping during COVID-19 in Italy using POSETs

2021

Abstract The pandemic COVID 19 has upset the economic, social, financial, and general behavioral systems. Global crisis has a large impact overall and related fallouts significantly affect existent structural paradigms in every country and region across the world. In particular, the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has led to having to rethink the way we produce and consume food. Within this global change, a rise in the number of consumers who purchase food products online in order to comply with the rules aimed at limiting the circulation of the virus should be emphasized. Consequently, probably causing a long-term positive effect on m-commerce. The purpose is to elaborate on the index of the s…

Il ruolo delle Tecnologie Informatiche e di Comunicazione e della logistica distributiva sulla competitività del comparto ortofrutticolo siciliano

2012

In recent years, the market globalization process has deeply changed the international competitive background, leading, inevitably, to a revision of the strategies and the organization structures of the companies. It is now widely accepted that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and supply chain logistics management, have an important role in the increasing of the competitive potential of each company and in the development of entire economic sectors. The importance of these factors in the business strategies of the firms, has generated an increasing attention by the research world to the study of the economic and social impact, both about the spread of modern information and co…

Demand for Primary Schooling in Rural Mali : Should User Fees Be Increased ?

1996

International audience; This paper presents estimates of the price elasticity of demand for primary schooling, using household and school survey data from rural Mali. The elasticity of enrolment with respect to the local school fee is compared with the effects on enrolment of distance to the school and various indicators of school quality, including books per classroom and the number of grades offered. Fees have a negative effect; however, certain improvements in school quality could easily offset in terms of enrolment any negative effect of higher fees to finance such improvements. For example, the astonishingly low average of two books per classroom could be doubled for a 10 per cent incr…

Motivations, adoption and impact of voluntary environmental certification in the Italian Forest based industry: The case of the FSC standard

2017

Abstract Over the past few years several private voluntary schemes have been developed worldwide to address the environmental issues in the forest based industry. Using survey data, this study analyse the main factors motivating companies operating in the Italian forest based industry to implement FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standard, as a tool to promote responsible forest management and traceability of derived products, and the impact of this standard on the economic and organisational results. The findings provide evidences that signalling mechanisms drive the entrepreneurs towards the adoption of FSC certification, followed by moral and ethical reasons. In terms of impact, emerges …

Bioenergy chain building: a collective action perspective

2014

Depletion of natural resources has become a key issue on the European policy agenda. Bottom-up measures have emerged in several countries with a view to promoting awareness campaigns and environmental sustainability, with the agenda set by individuals who start up collective initiatives at the local level. Such collective action provides an incentive to free-ride on the contribution of others. Social norms and the consequent behavior of individuals involved in collective action assume a key role in ensuring sustainable use of a public good, achieving significant, long-lasting success. The present study aims to ascertain which determinants most affect farmers’ willingness to contribute to co…

STRATEGIC DIAGNOSIS OF SPANISH FARMING COOPERATIVE CREDIT SECTIONS: A SWOT ANALYSIS

2011

**: Farming cooperative credit sections are financial instruments set up within a cooperative and at its service. They are key funding tools in rural areas and have been developed all over Spain although more intensely in some areas than others. The aim of this paper is to carry out a strategic diagnosis of the Spanish credit section using a SWOT Analysis to discover its set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as a proposal for strategic actions to be followed. In order to do so an empirical study using personalized surveys and interviews has been undertaken among the managers or persons in charge of the credit sections over the first half of 2008. The study demonst…

La filiera corta: una possibile strategia per migliorare la competitività dell'azienda agraria

2013

The paper aims to determine the possible competitive advantage for farms thatadopt a short supply-chain strategy. In particular, by carriying out an analysis of asample of fruit and vegetable farms, we wanted to find out how the business relatesto the market and the reasons that induced the entrepreneur to move into a shortsupply-chain set up. The study was prompted by the wish to determine, empirically,the economic benefits arising from the adoption of the short supply chain. In fact,there is a vast literature on the economic benefits produced by the short supply chainsuch as the demand stability due to customer loyalty and the ability to influencedirectly the price through the reduction o…

La contribución de las cooperativas de crédito para aliviar la exclusión financiera geográfica en los espacios menos poblados. El caso de España

2021

La crisis asociada a la Covid ha puesto de manifiesto nuevamente la relevancia del sistema financiero. La pasada crisis, de carácter financiero había impactado intensamente en el sistema bancario, provocando un fuerte retroceso en la actividad crediticia, lo que, en muchos casos se ha traducido en riesgo creciente de exclusión financiera, sobre todo en aquellos territorios en retroceso demográfico. En este contexto, las cooperativas de crédito, caracterizadas por su reducido tamaño, localismo y vocación de banca de proximidad, han sufrido un deterioro patrimonial menos acusado que el resto de las entidades del sistema bancario. Además, actúan en las áreas donde la densidad de población es m…