Biosphere reserves and their contribution to sustainable development: A value-chain analysis in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve, Germany

Kraus Felix, Merlin Cornelius and Job Hubert
Additional contact information
Kraus Felix: Würzburg
Merlin Cornelius: Würzburg
Job Hubert: Würzburg

ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, 2014, vol. 58, issue 1, 164-180

Abstract: The regional labeling scheme Dachmarke Rhön is an approach of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve to foster sustainable economic development through the intensification of regional value chains. The study compares the members of the Dachmarke Rhön with a random sample, both consisting of small rural enterprises in the economic sectors of tourism and food processing. Based on face-to-face interviews with 99 managers, a comparison of the two groups regarding their integration into regional value chains is elaborated: the two groups mainly coincide with regard to the reasons for choosing local suppliers. However, members of the Dachmarke Rhön are putting more emphasis on regional buying and the relationship to their suppliers. The share of total value added within the enterprises is higher in the random sample. This on the other hand explains higher expenses for supplies and a lower direct regional economic impact within the group of enterprises of the Dachmarke Rhön. Nevertheless the analysis shows, that the expenses for buying goods stay to a greater proportion within the region and facilitate a more diverse economic structure. Thus indirect regional economic effects are maximized fostering multifunctionality at the same time. The Dachmarke Rhön therefore can be seen as a market-based tool for fostering sustainable economic development, although the need for improvement regarding logistics and education for sustainable development exists.

Keywords: Biosphere reserve; regional economic circulation; value chain; sustainable regional development; regional labeling; food processing; tourism; Biosphere reserve; regional economic circulation; value chain; sustainable regional development; regional labeling; food processing; tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1515/zfw.2014.0011 (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:bpj:zfwige:v:58:y:2014:i:1:p:164-180:n:11

DOI: 10.1515/zfw.2014.0011

Access Statistics for this article

ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography is currently edited by Harald Bathelt and Sebastian Henn

More articles in ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography from De Gruyter
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().