Social and economic evaluation of the rural development investments support program: Western Mediterranean region case

Within the scope of the Rural Development Investments Support Program (RDISP) implemented throughout Turkey; the attitudes and behaviours of the producers benefiting from the aforementioned program in the Western Mediterranean Region comprising the Antalya, Burdur and Isparta cities, factors effecting the utilization of the program, the socio-economic, demographic and behavioural profiles of the establishments, the optimum political tools and components maximising the benefits of the establishments, attitudes and expectations of the establishments towards the program and the possible problems were examined in this study..With the industrialization, many changes occurred around the world and the urban areas were considered as the focal spots of development and improvement. Hence, the importance attached to urban areas increased, the rural areas were ignored and regional instabilities occurred. However, in many countries, the idea towards the integrity of urban and rural areas and that no discrimination could be made among these regions gained acceptance in the recent years.Efforts towards the rural development in Turkey started in the early years of the Republic, and with the planned period, several studies, strategies and projects were developed with the aim of efficiently sustaining the infrastructural services and other state efforts required for the rural areas. Among these efforts is the RDISP which came into effect in 2006. The program aims to increase the income level in rural areas, maintaining the integrity of agricultural production and agricultural industry, reinforcing the food safety and creating alternative income sources in the rural areas. Within the program, investments towards improving the economic activities and the infrastructure are supported. The program is a first in Turkey due to being an implementation on a city-basis.In the research, the area of study was chosen as the Western Mediterranean Region comprising the cities such as Antalya, Burdur and Isparta and a survey based on face-to face interviews with a total of 96 regional establishments benefiting from the RDISP was realized.In this study, the defining characteristics of the regional establishments were set forth in the first place. The economic analysis phase of the study was conducted within three stages, where Factor Analysis was used for the determination of the factors effecting the establishments? preferences towards RDISP and the factors orienting the establishments towards investment, Conjoint Analysis was used for the determination of the optimum rural development policy set providing the maximum benefit for the establishments and determining the degrees of influence of the decisions of the establishments regarding the agricultural policy and their related characteristics, and Cluster Analysis was used to classify the establishments depending on their degrees of utilizing the program and to reveal each sub-group profile. By the aforementioned analysis, the grantees? forms and reasons of benefiting from the donations to be awarded in the next years and which establishment type they would like to support were exposed.In the Factor Analysis of the research, 12 variables affecting the establishments? preferences towards benefiting from the program were merged in 3 factors, which are; ?being informed about the convenience of the support for the region and the support itself?, ?the employment opportunity of the support? and ?environmental awareness of the support?. In the Conjoint Analysis, five primary factors which effected the individuals? preferences towards supporting rural areas were determined as the type of support, amount (ratio) of support, area of support, investment period and tax exemption. The most important support factor was determined as the ?area of support?. While the effect of the ?area of support? for preferring to utilize the grant was 38,23 %, the ?investment period? was 16,25%, ?type of support? was 15,57%, ?tax exemption? was 15,42% and ?amount of support? was 14,53%. In the Cluster Analysis, establishments benefiting from the grant were classified in two groups, where the total of individuals in the 1st group identified the 54%, whereas the individuals in the 2nd group identified the 43% of the total population.In this study, towards the findings obtained regarding the supports to be provided for rural development; the characteristics effecting the establishments? decisions towards utilizing the grant, characteristics they rely on while benefiting from the support and the support combination maximizing the total benefit of the establishments were set forth, by using the example of establishments of Western Mediterranean Region benefiting from the support.