Exploring the Determinants of the Relationships between the Land-Based Sectors with the Wider Rural Business Base in Scotland: An Empirical Analysis

Pattanapong Tiwasing (), Lorna Pate, Jenny McMillan, Jane Atterton and Steven G. Thomson
Additional contact information
Pattanapong Tiwasing: Rural Policy Centre, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Lorna Pate: Rural Development & Food Marketing, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Jenny McMillan: Rural Development & Food Marketing, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Jane Atterton: Rural Policy Centre, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
Steven G. Thomson: Rural Development & Food Marketing, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: Over the past two decades, the relative socio-economic importance of land-based sectors has declined in comparison to non-land-based businesses such as tourism, food and beverage activities. However, policy implementation and research have primarily focused on the economic contributions of land-based businesses, leaving businesses outside these sectors and in rural areas, referred to as non-land-based businesses, largely overlooked. Therefore, this study aims to examine the importance of non-land-based businesses and the key determinants of the relationships between non-land-based businesses and land-based (farming, forestry and landed estate) sectors in rural Scotland. Through a survey of 1500 businesses whose primary focus is not agriculture, forestry or landed rural estates in four Scottish regions, the key findings of the logit model reveal that businesses located in rural areas are more likely to have relationships, both direct (supplying or purchasing goods/services) and indirect, with farming, forestry and landed estate sectors than their urban counterparts. Focusing on rural businesses, the results show that business size, sectors, business age, exporting, importing and business constraints related to cash flow, digital connectivity and government financial support significantly influence their relationships with land-based sectors. The results of crosstab analysis also reveal differences in business performance, business challenges related to Brexit and future plans between non-land-based rural businesses having relationships with land-based sectors in different rural classifications: accessible/remote small towns, accessible rural areas and remote rural areas. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to support rural businesses and future land-based and non-land-based sectors in rural Scotland.

Keywords: non-land-based businesses; rural businesses; relationship with land-based industry; empirical analysis; Scotland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/3/723/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/3/723/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:12:y:2023:i:3:p:723-:d:1104443

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().