Development of Non-Agricultural Entrepreneurship in Rural Areas of the Foothills and Mountainous Part of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract

The article examines the features of non-agricultural development in rural areas based on the research materials on rural entrepreneurship in the foothills and mountainous areas of the Ukrainian Carpathians, in particular in Lviv region. The methodological basis of the research consists of comparison, analogies, analysis and synthesis methods, process and system approaches etc. During the research the entrepreneurs’ sociological survey was conducted. As a result of the research a range of problems that inhibit the effective development of mountainous and foothills areas and the factors that complicate the formation and effective use of the entrepreneurship intellectual and personnel potential in the specified region are identified. The directions of non-agricultural entrepreneurship diversification are determined (namely tourist, accommodation, recreational, trade, transport and other services as well as folk crafts), and the expediency and advantages of the rural tourism development on the territory of the Ukrainian Carpathians and the foothills are substantiated. The motivational aspects of entrepreneurial activity in the rural tourism field are considered. It can be concluded that non-agricultural activity is one of the most important elements of rural residents’ alternative incomes and the intensification of economic activity in rural areas (in particular, foothills and mountainous).