Rural Youth, Agriculture, And Entrepreneurship: A Case-Study of Hungarian and Romanian Young Villagers

Abstract

This paper analyses the involvement of Romanian and Hungarian young villagers in the local agriculture and entrepreneurial activities. The first part provides an outlook on the historical evolution and the current situation of agriculture and rural development in Romania and Hungary from the perspective of theoretical positions formulated within economics and the sociology of entrepreneurship as well as rural sociology. The second part discusses the results of a cross-border research and social intervention project conducted in the period of 2012-2013 in ten rural localities from the shared Hungarian–Romanian border region. The questionnaire included questions regarding rural youth integration in the labour market, agriculture, and involvement in entrepreneurial activities as well as social and religious participation. The research has found significant differences between Romanian and Hungarian young villagers with respect to the examined questions.