JULIANNA FALUDI AND ZOLTÁN SZÁNTÓ TRADITION, INNOVATION AND REFORM IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS BUDAPEST, 2016 Joint European Master in Comparative Local Development Corvinus University of Budapest Institute of Sociology and Social Policy Dr Julianna Faludi and Professor Zoltán Szántó (eds) Tradition, Innovation and Reform in Local Development Conference Proceedings Editors: Dr Julianna Faludi and Professor Zoltán Szántó (Corvinus University Budapest) Academic Reviewer: Dr Péter Futó (Corvinus University Budapest) Proofread by: Simon Milton © Authors Funded by the Erasmus+ of the European Union Design and layout: Zoltán Király Printed by: CCPrinting Kft. CONTENTS PREFACE . 5 CONTENT ANTHONY OBERSCHALL LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY THE PEOPLE . 7 ITALO TREVISAN ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARACTERISTICS AMONG SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS IN THE ACCRA AREA . 16 Luciano Malfer and Annamaria Perino POLICIES FOR LOCAL WELL-BEING AND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT. THE CASE OF THE FAMILY DISTRICT IN TRENTINO. 46 FEKADU MALEDE THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED RELOCATION: EVIDENCES FROM RELOCATION FROM ARAT KILO TO JEMO, ADDIS ABABA . 65 JELENA BOŽOVIĆ DEVELOPMENT OWNERSHIP BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE. A CASE STUDY . 80 RAMIC ERMINA PHD, DINKA MAJANOVIC MBA, HARIS KOMIC MBA TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM OF LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE BIH SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT. THE CASE OF UNA SANA CANTON. 102 TAMÁS TARJÁN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE EU-28 REGIONS AND THE ROLE OF HUMAN CAPITAL . 120 ANNEX PÉTER FUTÓ, MÁRTON GOSZTONYI AND MEHDI HASAN POVERTY, SOCIAL CAPITAL, MICROCREDIT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP References . 131 5 PREFACE Understanding Local Development as the interaction of a complex mosaic of measures, resources and actors requires having an interdisciplinary perspective. ‘Local’ means small-scale, focused, and within reach - one would suggest -, while comparing or understanding inter-regional dynamics (putting what we mean by ‘locality’ on the global map) is what brings into sight traits, which can be treated as universal, typical or individual. The sections of the conference tackled this kaleidoscope of themes that has evolved around tradition, innovation and reform, with roots in both academia and policy-making connected to entrepreneurship, governance, economic and social structure, the labor market and human capital. The Reader contains a selection of some of the papers presented at the confer- ence and represents the variety of approaches and localities brought forward. The cases of three successful grassroots developments from local trade in East and Central Africa, the privatization of collective farming in China, and the mor- al economy of Hungarian farmers during the transition from collective to private farming set the tone for further discussion (Oberschall). W e learn about some generalizable patterns in the search for the entrepreneurial traits of business owners and beyond, scrutinized through a case study from the Accra city area of Ghana (Trevisan). As regards the social dimensions of local development, the case of the Family District in Trentino region raises the issue of how well-being, social cohesion and economic development can be created in an integrated man- ner (Malfer-Perino). In contrast to the above-described case study, we learn about how the interests of people affected by development measures are not always taken into consideration in their entirety. The study of the consequences of devel- opment-induced relocation in Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia, reveals how the process resulted in the restriction of the rights of children to education. The study points to the anomalies in relocation policy as concerns the consideration and treatment of vulnerable groups in the form of a focus on children’s rights (Malede). Despite the integration of activities and policies involving civil society organiza- tions in the design and implementation of development programs, examples from Serbia fl ag up some anomalies in this respect. Generalizable recommendations for all players and other contexts as regards how the contribution of civil society organizations can be channeled more effi ciently are given in this study (Božović). ERASMUS MUNDUS JOINT EUROPEAN MASTER IN COMPARATIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT 6 The next set of recommendations is drawn from an analysis of policies in Bosnia and Herzegovina designed to promote a more favorable climate for development (Ramic, Majanovic, Komic). Finally, the connection between growth and human capital is investigated in a cross-regional analysis of the EU-28 which identifi es the most prosperous regions (Tarján). In the Annex the Reader can fi nd an intro- ductory guideline for understanding and analyzing microcredit policies, along with a set of defi nitions of microcredit (Futó-Gosztonyi-Hasan). The Joint Master’s Program in Comparative Local Development now dates back more than a decade and is currently hosted by the coordinator Corvinus Univer- sity Budapest in partnership with the University of Regensburg, the University of Ljubljana and the University of Trento. This program brings together a pool of exceptional students from all over the world with various professional, academ- ic and cultural backgrounds. The uniqueness of this conference stemmed from the contributions of the students with their conference presentations and public project defense-sessions which invited the public to take a virtual trip across the globe with a local focus. The Editors JOINT EUROPEAN MASTER IN COMPARATIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ERASMUS MUNDUS CONTENT LOCAL DEVELOPMENT BY THE PEOPLE ANTHONY OBERSCHALL1 ABSTRACT I discuss three modes of successful grassroots development that I have personally witnessed and researched: 1. local trade in East and Central Africa; 2. the privatization of collective farming in China; and 3. the moral economy of Hungar- ian farmers during the transition from collective to private farming, when the vast majority were losers. Each mode demonstrates how ordinary people cope with exis- tential problems with but little assistance from national and international agencies. During my forty-year professional life, I personally witnessed and studied several episodes of development, three of which I will refl ect upon: 1. Local trade in Africa; 2. The privatization of collective farming in China; 3. The moral economy of Hun- garian farmers. AFRICAN TRADE Local economic activity lifts people above a subsistence level of living. In Lu- saka, Zambia, I researched several markets with hundreds of self-employed mar- keteers: women sold vegetables in small quantities to customers who shopped daily for food; furniture makers made small chairs, tables and cabinets that Af- ricans could afford; tinsmiths made buckets for fetching water at municipal taps; tailors with sewing machines made clothing, and so on. Nearby, auto repair- ers stripped parts from wrecks for repairing other vehicles. Goods also reached these markets through longer supply chains. Dried fi sh would start at the Kafue River a hundred kilometers away, where fi shermen trapped them and their wives smoked them, after which cyclists and truck drivers would bring them to the city markets. There were even longer chains. In the Congo I spent a week on a 1 University of North Carolina ERASMUS MUNDUS JOINT EUROPEAN MASTER IN COMPARATIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT 8 huge barge navigating down the Kasai and Congo rivers to the capital Kinshasa. The barge was full of traders (many women) who bought foodstuffs from vil- lages along the river in exchange for money, salt, cooking oil, and other goods. Typically, the villagers came in boats loaded with food which was auctioned off instantly to traders on the barges who pointed and yelled out prices (just like a stock exchange). By the last day, the deck of the barge was piled high with sacks and goods that these traders then sold in Kinshasa markets, a city of two million that had to be fed. What I am describing is a large volume of economic activity generating much employment and income which tends to be omitted by the World Bank and other agencies from their economic statistics which measure the formal sector – min- ing companies’ output, payroll and employment, government employees, and the like. Economists usually come up with fi gures for estimated subsistence income such as $2-3 a day which vastly underestimates the informal African economy. In Zambia, fi nance ministry offi cials did not know what the earnings of small African retail stores were and some merchants did not know it either, since they did not keep records or bank accounts. To fi nd out, I posted research assistants in several stores who recorded every sale for several weeks and every purchase and other expenditure (e.g. employee wages) paid out by the owner. We discovered that African businessmen’s earnings exceeded by ten times or more what the fi nance ministry arbitrarily assessed them at for tax purposes. In Lubumbashi (Congo) on the Copperbelt there was much building of small houses (2-3 rooms, brick or cement, corrugated iron roof, doors and window frames) which were a big improvement over the shacks in the shantytowns. All of the builders and owners were Africans. My students and I interviewed them about the cost of materials and labor, which it came to the equivalent of two to three thousand dollars. None of this economic activity was measured in offi cial statistics; in fact, we estimated that about half the housing Africans built, owned or rented and lived in involved unmeasured economic activity. Indigenous economic activity, driven by an internal dynamic towards devel- opment which does not have to be stimulated by World Bank and international agencies, provides a large part of the employment and income that have raised living standards above subsistence level. It is of course desirable that outside agencies have infrastructure, health and education programs that benefi t the pop- JOINT EUROPEAN MASTER IN COMPARATIVE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ERASMUS MUNDUS 9 ulation and economic activity, but, if not interfered with, people themselves are the principal agents of development. All too often, political and ethnic rivalries, antagonisms and civil strife create insecurity and distrust which disrupts the in- formal economic sector.