Local Embeddedness and Rural Entrepreneurship : Case-Study Evidence from Cumbria, England

Local contextual factors and circumstances areseen to influence the entrepreneur. Current thinking proposes that localenterprise cooperation is a key element of economic development initiatives.Economic activity is seen as socially embedded, which usually implies localembeddedness. This assumption is questioned in this study. Rural settings maylack many elements that make up the idea of territorial externalities. The factof successful in-migrants also complicates the idea of local embeddedness. The empirical study had three phases. Semi-structured interviews with fivekey informants were conducted in 2000. Five hundred rural Cambria residentswere then interviewed to determine the incidence and characteristics ofentrepreneurship. To understand entrepreneurial processes, 100 interviews wereconducted with local entrepreneurs. Going beyond a simple distinction betweenborn-locals and newcomers, hierarchical cluster analysis identified three typesof entrepreneurs in rural Cumbria: entrepreneurial craftsmen, entrepreneurialprofessionals, and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs. It was found that the three groups differed in degree of local embeddedness,location of main sources of information, frequency of interaction with sourcesof market information, and nature of the relationship with main sources ofinformation about technological opportunities and finance. Interaction withlocal context provides, then, only a partial view of embeddedness. The concept of locality may go beyond territorial ideas. Entrepreneurialcraftsmen are most likely to be geographically defined. Opportunity-drivenentrepreneurs are most strongly embedded in relational and network proximities.The specificities of the rural settingmay explain the importance ofnon-local contexts. The abilities of entrepreneurs to overcome localconstraints vary.Debate can be moved forward by considering howovercoming relational distance can facilitate expansion of ruralentrepreneurial ventures. (TNM)