فصلنامه روستا و توسعه
سال سیزدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 49، بهار 1389)

Socio-economic transformation, insufficient attention to rural areas, concentration of capital and other facilities, and rural-urban migration have led to the emergence of a new pattern of land utilization in rural areas. In this pattern the utilization of rural natural resources was not dependent on the rural population, but on the migrants, and these migrants are those who manage the resources. With the growing number of depopulated villages this pattern expands rapidly. Several factors have contributed to the economic functionality of villages -- including both types, growing and exposed to depopulation. This field study attempted to examine the impact of spatial and location aspects on villages exposed to depopulation in Ghazvin county. The findings of three questionnaires including village level questionnaire, setteled households questionnaire and migrant households questionnaire from selected villages of Ghazvin county showed that a significant relationship existed between spatial-location aspect of villages and the sustainability of their economic functionality.

The present study used Delphi method. A two-part model was developed in relation to weaknesses and threats faced by Agricultural Insurance Fund. The statistical population of the study was 60 experts 79 percent of which were from government sector, 14 percent from cooperatives, and 7 percent from private sector, insurance industry and rural and agricultural development fields. The results indicated that non adoption of economic rules and firm management principles, weakness of statistical system, the lack of competition in service provision, and absence of a sustainable system of monitoring and evaluation were among the weak points of the Insurance Fund. The factors threatened the Fund included: inappropriate structure of production units, land fragmentation, lack of production standards, and subsistence farming systems. In addition, both groups of experts from staff and line had similar views.

This study evaluates and compares the level of social capital in Torbaghan - a village in the process of merging – and Rezghabad –as an independent village. The study method is descriptive –analytical and based on a five point Likert scale. The results indicated that social capital in peripheral villages merging into cities was lower in comparison to independent villages. The overall result showed that the merging of this type of villages in cities caused an erosion of social capital in the village and in-migration of non-natives who were prone to deviant bahaviors. The merged villages became yet another urban margins with consequent prevalence of social anomies and exclusion from development process.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors affecting land fragmentation in Khomeinishahr County. These factors were classified into four categories: socio-cultural, economic, farming, and physical; then the relations of each factor to land fragmentation were examined. The statistical population of this study was the farmers of Khomainishahr county. Using random sampling and Cochran formula 115 farmers were selected and data were collected through a questionnaire. The result of correlation analysis indicated that age, agricultural record, the size of lands, the area under cultivation, number of products under cultivation, the type of farming system, and average cost of production had a positive and significant relationship with land fragmentation. The average income per hectare, the distance of land to water source, and the distance of land to village had a negative and significant relationship with land fragmentation. Also no relationship observed between the level of literacy and the number of farmer household members with land fragmentation.

In this paper, the impacts of tariff on key variables in the agricultural sector is examined, applying Computable General Equilibrium Model for Iran and using a Social Accounting Matrix in year 2001 in the form of two scenarios, that is, gradual reduction of tariffs, and unification of tariffs on imports. In the first scenario these steps will be followed: gradual increase of imports, reduction of exports, reduction of employment, increasing the supply of goods and consequent raise in the household consumption of agricultural products. In the second scenario these steps will be followed: import reduction, export increase, employment raise, and reduction in the supply of goods with a subsequent decline in households’ consumption. The findings of the study showed that in parallel with the regulations and rules of World Trade Organization it is necessary to raise the agricultural export competitiveness through the reduction of final price and observation of health standards which can be formulated and implemented through an appropriate policy package.

Tourism and tourism economy is becoming one of the pillars of the world trade economy, such that it is counted as a catalyst in the renovation and socio-economic development of rural areas. Valuating rural tourism areas and their environmental functions is an important step towards the correction of economic decisions based on this view that environment and tourism areas are free goods. The purpose of this study is to separate the factors affecting tourists’ willingness to pay and in particular the factors affecting tourist level of willingness to pay for their visit of Oshtbin, and also an estimation of the annual recreational value of this village by two stage Heckman method. The results indicated that income, the level of education, the number of household members, age, previous trips to village and gender variables influenced the visitors’ willingness to pay. Also income, the number of household members, and the level of satisfaction influenced the level of visitor's willingness to pay. The average willingness to pay and the annual recreational value of this village were respectively equal to 6884 and 826 080 000 Rials in 2008.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between patriarchal culture and organized participation of women in rural management. The study used survey method. The statistical population consisted of 15-65- year- old women in Firouzabad subdistrict, and the sample size is 256 according to Cochran’s formula. The study findings showed that women's organized participation depends on rural traditions and patriarchal culture. This variable is a key one and has an indirect relationship with women's participation, that is, the raising level of this variable leads to a decline in women's participation. Increasing level of the following variables associated with the increasing level of organized participation of women in rural management: education, socioeconomic status, access rate, application of mass media, willingness to progress, and accessibility of urban centers.

This study used an analytical- descriptive method to assess rural people's satisfaction of different aspects of their settlement environment. The data were collected by a questionnaire and the sample size was 430 from 49 rural settlements in Komijan county. The results indicated the level of satisfaction in 71% of settlement residents was less than expected. The Chi square test indicated a gap between observed and expected satisfaction frequency at 95% level of confidence. The distribution of the level of satisfaction was not balanced and the average satisfaction was not high in any villages. The t student test showed that increasing the level of education was associated with the lower level of satisfaction. Based on Friedman’s test, the 25 dimensional index with various degrees was not effective on the level of satisfaction. But in step by step regression, the physical, natural and economic dimensions had the highest influence on dependent variable.