Despite providing some valuable insights,
none of these theories has been widely accepted
as an explanation of rural industrialisation. This
reflects the emphasis they place on individual
location factors, which provides, at best, a partial
explanation of the urban-rural shift. During
the 1990s, a second set of theories emerged,
which attempted to provide a more holistic
understanding of the factors responsible for
the superior performance of different rural
businesses. This research was characterised by
greater empirical breadth, and sought to reveal
the manifold qualities that characterise rural
areas (and the companies operating within them)
and contribute to their economic success. For
instance, Keeble & Tyler (1995) developed
a theory of ‘enterprising behaviour’ which
suggested that firms – in accessible rural areas
especially – benefit from (and indeed contribute
to) a highly favourable innovative milieu. In
part, this theory built on Keeble’s earlier suggestion
that the environmental quality of rural
spaces acts as a magnet for the most gifted
entrepreneurs, which leads in turn to higher
rates of new firm formation in high quality
sectors. However, its arguments were broader
in scope, suggesting that a number of characteristics
of accessible rural areas make them
especially conducive to the development of
‘enterprising behaviour’, or ‘the deliberate and
conscious efforts of companies to enhance their
competitive edge across all activities . . . necessary
for successful business operation’ (Keeble
& Tyler 1995, p. 978). In essence, Keeble and
Tyler contended that the most innovative and
commercially successful business strategies are
developed by SMEs in accessible rural locations:
a claim they substantiated with a survey
of over 1,000 manufacturing and service SMEs
in ‘remote rural’, ‘accessible rural’ and ‘urban’
areas.