Forces affecting employment dynamics in Groningen; Case study in a lagging rural region in the Netherlands
In this report the focus is on employment dynamics in Drenthe since the beginning of the 1980s. This study is part of an EU wide research project on employment development in leading and lagging rural regions of the EU. Total employment in Drenthe increased by 24,500 jobs or with over 20% in the period 1984-1996. Nearly 40% of employment growth occurred in the community, social and personal services sector, 25% in the trade, restaurant and hotel sector, 14% in the financial services sector, 13% in the construction sector and 12% in the manufacturing sector. A substantial part of employment growth consists of part time jobs. Employment in the agricultural sector declined by over 2,000 jobs in this period. Employment development is the result of many interacting factors. As strengths have been identified the beautiful landscape, which attracts tourists, labourers, entrepreneurs and retirees, the location of the region near the city of Groningen, the strategies of policymakers to create favourable preconditions for firm settlement, like zones of economic activities, low land prices and investment subsidies. Weak points in the employment situation are the peripheral location of Drenthe relatively to main economic centres, the cautious and risk averting attitude of many entrepreneurs and the relatively thinness of the economic structure. Opportunities for further employment growth are the congestion in the Randstad, improvements in infrastructure like the doubling of the N37 and the development of tourism. Threats are competitiveness with low wage countries and changes in EU agricultural and structural policies.
Rural employment dynamics in the EU Key findings for policy consideration emerging from the RUREMPLO project
The RUREMPLO team: Jaap H. Post and Ida J. Terluin (coordination), Agricultural Economics Research Institute LEI-DLO, The Netherlands; Heino von Meyer, Pro Rural Europe, FR Germany; Franco Sotte and Roberto Esposti, Università Degli Studi di Ancona, Italy; Sophia Efstratoglou and Angelos Efstratoglou, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece; Jacques Blanchet, Jean Pierre Bertrand, Bernard Roux and Åsa Sjöström, INRA Grignon, and Jean-Claude Bontron, SEGESA, France; Jordi Rosell and Lourdes Viladomiu, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain; Bruno Henry de Frahan, Pierre Dupraz and Béatrice Van Haeperen, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; Tuomas Kuhmonen, Fin-Auguuri Oy (Ltd), Finland; Markus F. Hofreither and Franz Weiss, Institut für Wirtschaft, Politik und Recht, Austria.
Agriculture and employment in E.U. rural areas case study : department les Ardennes, France
Marque par une tres longue histoire industrielle dans la vallee de la Meuse, le departement des Ardennes a connu une forte croissance demographique et industrielle apres la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Cette croissance a ete ralentie dans les annees 60 a cause de la crise de l'industrie textile et arretee dans les annees 70 par la crise de la siderurgie et de la metallurgie qui devait se poursuivre dans les annees 80. Les vingt dernieres annees sont caracterisees par le declin de l'emploi, de la population, et l'essor du chomage. Les determinants internes et externes de ce declin sont analyses. Outre la crise siderurgique au niveau europeen, le principal facteur externe est l'isolement du departement par rapport au developpement des grandes infrastructures nationales, grands poles urbains de decisions politique et economique, autoroutes et train a grande vitesse. Les facteurs internes sont l'importance des secteurs agricole et industriel dans la population active et l'absence de strategie territoriale coherente. Le soutien public, d'ailleurs relativement peu mobilise, sert des politiques sectorielles de modernisation qui, bien qu'ayant restaure une certaine competitivite industrielle, se sont revelees destructrices d'emploi dans l'industrie et l'agriculture. Par ailleurs, le secteur touristique apparait sous developpe par rapport aux potentialites.