Abstract

One of the priorities of state policy is small business and the development of rural areas. It is obvious that rural small business (SB) is an important aspect of the development of rural areas. However, it has been little studied, which justifies the relevance of the study. The purpose of the work is to analyze the state of rural small business, to identify the peculiarities of its support. The objectives of the study include an analysis of methodological issues of identification and support of small businesses in rural areas, the formation of a database based on a review of information sources, analysis of the current state of, and support measures for, small businesses in rural areas based on the generated data sets. A separate task of the study is to identify the status quo and peculiarities of support for rural small businesses in the context of COVID-19. The work was carried out at the Center for AgriFood Policy of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in 2021. The main sources of information were data from the Unified Register of Small and Medium-sized Businesses and the Unified Register of Small and Medium-sized Businesses receiving support. The two registers are maintained by the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation. Comparative, computational-constructive, statistical methods were used. As a result, for the first time, an assessment of the current state of rural small business in Russia was obtained in regional and sectoral cross-sections in terms of the number and density of businesses; in comparison with the urban areas, which is also the novelty of this work. The regions with the highest concentration of rural small business, as well as regions where it develops less successfully, are highlighted. It is shown that the main volume of support for rural SBs falls on agriculture, although the main sphere of rural SBs is trade, transport, and only then agriculture. The results can be used to improve regional and federal policy in the field of rural development. Further research can develop in terms of further monitoring of rural small business, expanding the analysis of the characteristics of rural small businesses, now available through a limited range of indicators, identifying factors affecting the development of rural small businesses.

Abstract

The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that in recent decades, peripheralization of rural spaces in Russia has intensified in the form of the expansion of abandoned agricultural lands, disappearance of rural settlements, and a general long-term social-demographic depression. Concerning the spatial and food security of Russia, the re-development of peripheral rural territories is the most important condition for the viability and sustainable development of the country. The study aims at presenting a typology of models of rural development and rural differentiation in the peripheral territories of Russia as based on regional resources and the potential of local territories – in order to integrate them into the all-Russian programs of rural development. The subject is specific Russian cases of the development of rural peripheral territories and general trends in the revival of the depressed rural periphery. The methods combine the elements of the quantitative (statistical data, secondary analysis) and qualitative (expert semi-formalized interviews) approaches within the case study. Based on the results of the study, the paper describes the latest trends in the peripheralization of even the old-developed Russian regions, i.e., measures for the centralization of spatial development often exacerbate the depth of peripherization. The paper concludes with the main indicators of the rural periphery viability (ability to cope with systemic shocks and uncertainty, ability to radically change the trajectory of one’s development) and the features of the sustainable peripheral rural system. The novelty of the study is determined by an attempt to develop a typology of rural periphery and by a systematic analysis of its problems within both the agrarian re-development strategies and projects of ecological-recreational and cultural-historical types. The paper provides some recommendations on the development of rural periphery: more diverse economic activities of rural residents; more market-oriented institutions to ensure a transition from informal economic interactions to the formalized ones; stronger social capital in order to more easily mobilize internal and external resources.