RURAL ENTREPRENEURS IN MOUNTAIN AREAS: THE CASE OF PYLI IN GREECE

In Greece the majority of rural holdings are located in mountainous and rather problematic areas. According to literature, the study on the entrepreneur in the economic sense and, especially, the sub-issue of rural entrepreneurship are subjects of significant theoretical production and empirical analysis. The present field research focuses upon the individual rural entrepreneur of the mountainous Pyli area, in Greece including one third of the existing enterprises of the area and thus providing an adequate sample for its purposes. The data of the study was captured using structured questionnaires and analyzed via the statistical package SPSSWIN ver 20.0. Rural entrepreneurs are locals that run mainly family business. However, they lack relevant entrepreneurial knowledge and culture; they own underdeveloped entrepreneurial skills, are introvert and seem to depend on subsidies. They are not willing to innovate but they are hard workers who focus on the everyday living. On the other hand, a small but critical percentage of the respondents appear to be very active and invest in differentiation in an effort to resist the long-lasting socioeconomic crisis in Greece. These constitute the dynamic part of rural entrepreneurs of the area extracting real value from their mountainous environment against business owners who merely subsist. However, they still act in a rather closed entrepreneurial eco-system characterized by a myopic approach of the entrepreneurship issue in total. Findings confirm existing literature and contribute to efforts for the development of policies to regenerate rural areas in Greece which is still in the severe fiscal crisis. They further add to the empirical evidence on the traits of rural entrepreneurs and their clear distinction from business owners.