Local Rural Labour Markets: Enterprising or Constraining?

Abstract

This paper examines SMEs' experiences of labour markets and their adoption of technology, including ICTs, in two rural areas: South Warwickshire and North Devon. Findings are assessed within the context of existing theories of rural industrial growth, which have tended to stereotype firms on the basis of location, and have underplayed the role of ‘non-local’ factors such as supply chains in influencing both the behaviour and ‘success’ of individual SMEs. In contrast, this paper contends that understanding the true complexity of the SME sector is essential if efforts to foster and support enterprise in rural areas are to be successful.