Shinichi Furuzawa – författare

This book clarifies the status quo and mechanisms of agricultural and rural development in today’s Russia, especially focusing on human capital and human development. It provides readers insights into agricultural and rural development from the perspectives of agricultural economics, developmental economics, and regional–spatial science. Further, it addresses key research questions such as whether agricultural development in Russia has made significant strides, whether it has improved the nation’s food security and rural development, and whether structural changes in the agricultural sector as well as human capital have had impacts on agricultural development since the 2000s. In terms of analytical methods, structural equation modeling and stochastic frontier analysis are employed to capture the relationship between agriculture and rural development in regional Russia. In closing, policy challenges are identified to promote social innovation for rural development by enhancing the human capital of rural youth, including entrepreneurship. Given its scope, the book is highly recommended for all readers seeking an in-depth and up-to-date overview of agricultural and rural development in contemporary Russia.

 This is the first book to clarify the relationships between multi-functions of urban agriculture, creative classes, and social business in China and Japan. Specifically, it constructs a new framework showing how these factors contribute to the sustainability of cities by introducing the mixed methods research of structural equation modeling and the trajectory equifinality model. Policy implications drawn from the research suggests that governments should provide opportunities to create a virtuous cycle to improve the accumulation of social capital in order to attract those who think creatively.

 It is widely agreed that a sustainable city should meet the needs of the present generation without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. However, there has been no completely agreed-upon definition for what a sustainable city should be nor upon the paradigm for what components should be included. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the multi-functions of urban agriculture may attract especially those who are thinking creatively. These creative thinkers have a high level of social capital, pay attention to social issues, and are greatly motivated to find solutions through social enterprises such as agriculture-related business.

This book aims to assess the roles of entrepreneurship and social innovation for socio-cultural changes. It also evaluates farmers’ performance in disaster risk management at a community level toward sustainable regional development in a rural haor region of Bangladesh. To achieve the purpose of the research, both a qualitative method (Trajectory Equifinality Modeling, TEM) and a quantitative method (Structural Equation Modeling, SEM) are introduced, based on the results of case studies on local entrepreneurs, interview and focus group discussions with stakeholders, and questionnaire surveys of farm households.

First, the results clarify that social capital is critically important both for male and female entrepreneurs in the haor region, and that education is more important to women for empowerment and technology adoption in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the haor region of Bangladesh. In addition, it makes clear that the Common Interest Group approach plays a role for women’s empowerment in the target region. Furthermore, it identifies the multi-causal relationships among the factors affecting farm households’ performance in disaster risk management at the community level.

This book helps readers to understand regional development through social and cultural transformation in a rural community where poverty and gender discrimination are path-dependent problems.