FAMILY ENTERPRISES IN RURAL AREAS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
Tosho Kostadinov
"Ss. Cyril and Methodius" University in Skopje, Institute of Animal Science, Bul. Ilinden 92-a, Skopje, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia
tosokostadinov@gmail.com
The aim of this paper is to investigate some aspects of the family enterprises and incorporate new items in the body of knowledge about family businesses in rural areas of the Republic of Macedonia. For this reason a survey on 101 respondents from the rural areas in the Republic of Macedonia was conducted, of which 44.6% were owners of family enterprises and 55.4% of non-family businesses. The respondents were offered three sets of statements that are of significance for comparison between family and non-family enterprises and establishment of the particularities of family enterprises in rural areas of the Republic of Macedonia. The answers were valued at a five-degree scale from 1 ‑ unimportant to 5 ‑ priority. From the conducted research it can be concluded that family businesses largely shape the economic environment in rural areas of the Republic of Macedonia. They are unique because of their structure of employees. Employees and managers are not randomly selected but are family members. Their focus on success of their enterprises in future clearly emphasized their desire to stay in the place of residence and to give an active contribution to the development of the local rural community. Support to entrepreneurship and SMEs in general and in rural areas by the state and local governments can significantly stimulate establishment of new family enterprises and the growth of existing ones.
Keywords: family businesses; non-family businesses; rural areas; advantages of family businesses; weakness of family enterprises
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