Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Agricultural Economics in the Context
of Portuguese Rural Development
V
´
tor Jo
˜
o Pereira Domingues Martinho
1
Introduction
The discussion about rural development is often interminable because it possesses
many problems, and it is therefore very difficult to find solutions to the questions
related to the lack of population, lack of firms and economic activity, a lack of
infrastructures, some of which are basic and others not so basic (but also important
for current times, if the intention is to maintain populations), and a lack of good
access. The most problematic from these contexts is that in some situations the
catching-up may not be sufficient to prevent the circular and cumulative processes,
well defined by the authors of the New Economic Geography and of the Keynesian
theory, where richer areas have preliminary advantages and the poorer areas have
initial disadvantages.
There are many studies about the dynamics in rural zones and about rural
development, but few or none (according to our knowledge) about the cross-
sectional econometric analysis of the influence of the other sectors related with
the agricultural sector and of the structural characteristics of the farms in the output
of agriculture. In this way, this research provides for an original analysis, because it
examines in Portuguese municipalities, over the year 2009, through cross-sectional
descriptions and estimations, the influence, in agriculture (agriculture, animal
production, hunting, and related service activities) performance (output), of the
output of some industries (food, textile, wood, cork, and related activities) and some
services (accommodation, restaurants, and consulting services), more or less related
with the farming sector. They were tested for their influence on the output of
other activities related with agriculture such as the forestry, fishery, aquaculture,
and other industry (paper industry) and services, but none presented a statistical
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