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.
Comparative analysis of employment dynamics in leading and lagging rural regions of the EU, 1980-1997.
In this study a comparative analysis of factors hampering and encouraging the development of employment in 9 leading and 9 lagging regions in the EU during the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s is made. Derived from this comparative analysis, some lessons, which leading and lagging rural regions can learn from each other with regard to employment creation, are given. During the period 1980-1995 leading rural regions tend to have both growth in industrial employment and in services employment. Besides, in this period leading rural regions showed also a population growth, whereas that in lagging rural regions stagnated. Leading rural regions are characterized by a rather well developed road infrastructure relatively to lagging regions. So in leading regions infrastructure is no serious economic constraint for entrepreneurs, whereas the poorer condition of infrastructure in lagging regions hampers economic development. On the whole actors in leading regions show a better developed capacity than actors in lagging regions. This is for example reflected in the way in which they co-operate with other actors inside and outside the region, in which they face challenges, in which they innovate and in which they launch projects in line with the strengths and needs of the region. Due to the higher capacity of actors in leading regions, both internal and external networks are rather strong. Lessons, which may be helpful in the creation of employment in rural regions, are: design projects according to the strengths of the region, integrate infrastructure into a broader development concept, follow a multisectoral approach in employment creation, tourism is not the only solution, involve a wide range of local actors in the development process and strengthen both internal and external networks.
Drivers of Live Cattle Price in the Livestock Trading System of Central Cameroon
Livestock production and trade are critical for the food security and welfare of rural households in sub-Saharan Africa. In Cameroon, animal trade consists mainly of live cattle commercialized through livestock markets. Identifying the factors contributing to cattle price formation is critical for designing effective policies for sustainable production and for increasing food availability. In this study, we evaluated the influence of a range of individual- and market-level factors on the price of cattle that were sold in all transactions (n = 118,017) recorded over a 12-month period from 31 livestock markets in the main cattle production area of the country. An information-theoretic approach using a generalized additive mixed-effect model was implemented to select the best explanatory model as well as evaluate the robustness of the identified drivers and the predictive ability of the model. The age and gender of the cattle traded were consistently found to be important drivers of the price (p < 0.01). Also, strong, but complex, relationships were found between cattle prices and both local human and bovine population densities. Finally, the model highlighted a positive association between the number of incoming trading connections of a livestock market and the price of the traded live cattle (p < 0.01). Although our analysis did not account for factors informing on specific phenotypic traits nor breed characteristics of cattle traded, nearly 50% of the observed variation in live cattle prices was explained by the final model. Ultimately, our model gives a large scale overview of drivers of cattle price formation in Cameroon and to our knowledge is the first study of this scale in Central Africa. Our findings represent an important milestone in designing efficient and sustainable animal health management programme in Cameroon and ensure livelihood sustainability for rural households.