LEADER Program—An Inclusive or Selective Instrument for the Development of Rural Space in Romania?

Ana-Maria Opria, Lucian Roșu and Corneliu Iațu
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Ana-Maria Opria: Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, 700506 Iași, Romania
Lucian Roșu: Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, 700506 Iași, Romania
Corneliu Iațu: Department of Geography, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, 700506 Iași, Romania

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: The LEADER program is one of the European Union’s financing instruments dedicated to the development of the rural communities. The instrument was introduced in the Romanian rural territory in 2007, a territory characterised by a high level of local and regional economic inequalities. The main goal of the present research is to question whether the development level specific to the rural communities have influenced their performance in managing the LEADER program. In order to answer this question, the characteristics of the initial level of development were analysed in relation to the spatial distribution of LEADER funds. The indicators taken into consideration were the number of projects, funds per capita, funds per Local Action Group (LAG), and the percentage of employees from the total population. In order to assess the relation between the initial level of development and the LAG’s performance, the method used was the Ordinary Least Squares regression, which calculates a set of statistical parameters that highlight the presence, form, sense, and intensity of the dependency relation. The results highlight no correlation between the level of development and the spatial distribution of the LEADER funds. Analysing the data, the paper reveals that the LEADER program is an inclusive rather than a selective instrument for the development of Romanian rural communities, despite other examples researched in Western countries. The results show that the LEADER program can have an influence in reducing the rural disparities, but its effects are of low importance.

Keywords: rural development; local action groups; development level; LEADER funds; Romania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:12187-:d:672221

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