Journal of Community Positive Practices 22012 [615966]

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
204RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
BETWEENECONOMIC OBJECTIVES
ANDTRADITIONAL CULTURE
Gabriel PRICINA*
Abstract. The efforts to understand the social and economic changes in
Romania require the understanding of the social context and the factors
contributing to its ongoing growth. Although the expectations of the 1990s have
not resulted to improved the living standards, we find that the rural population did
not witness how the dynamics of the Romanian society, but the extent of their
capacity for assessing individual interests trying to adapt to new demands of the
modern society.
The current difficulties a given by the efforts of the grafting the modern elements
on the traditional funds to prospect the behavior checked in the past but with
mixed results today.
In this article we seek to identify the possibility of connecting the opportunities to
the traditional mentality of a society comprised of the fever requirements of
globalization and find answers to questions about the ability to maintain the
traditional cultural background or if the current upgrade price is the traditionalism.
Keywords : Rural entrepreneurship, globalization, rural environment, peasant
culture, traditions.
1. Introduction
The traditional societies, especially those from Eastern Europe have experienced a
history of fluctuating under the influence of some periodic changes in the global
geopolitical configuration. The differences between Eastern and Western companies
                                                           
* Lecturer, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Craiova, Romania, Email: gabriel
[anonimizat]

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
205have resulted in taking the population to two different life philosophies: Western
followed by America, where Western philosophy was take to the highest levels of
economic performance, the company development based on excellence and
economic competitiveness, up to a high concentration of economic and military
domination. East followed a different path of evolution, the social balance has
become the focus of the small rural communities, and continuously exposing the
risks of various geopolitical events that have reshaped repeatedly the social and the
economic context, not oriented the economic competitiveness.
The economic strength of the Western civilization has spurred the development
impact in other field’s social, cultural, educational, etc. The trend was that the
emergence of the social systems with a coherent and harmonized rapid transmission
area role models, supported by favorable profitability ratios resulting from weaker
countries, militarily and economically. The main gain of this configuration was the
social development boost and the population change their tolerant and versatile.
The Eastern countries such as Romania, have been characterized by efforts of
connecting to orbit developed societies, made up of small rural communities, autarchic,
concerned with subsistence and not by profit. In this case, the balance was the main
goal of social organization, economic and religious. The family structures and
community relations were subsume with perpetuating community in which economic
needs were integrate into a harmonized system. The dynamics, implied by the context,
aimed to identify the social functions seeking the balance, in the absence of the
external influences the preservation of this common tendency, which maintained
balanced the social structure. The tradition has become the main reference of the rural
communities that offer continuity and perpetuation of landmarks.
The current differences between companies in developed and developing countries
reveals a historical foundation that does not allow initiation of social development in
the second category of countries at a pace similar to the first category. The
community inertia, based on a useful mechanism in the past coexists with the trends
of modernization and adaptation to the systems values that actually are better suited
to individual aspirations.
The discrepancies between contemporary societies show a difference of structure in
the location of economic activities in the world community. In developed countries it
occupies a central role, due to material values prevalent, while in countries like
Romania are integrate into a universe based on religious and traditional values.
2. The specific ruralentrepreneurship inRomania
The research conducted in the interwar period showed a specific economic
Romanians philosophy, other than the Western one. This traditional Romanian

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206perpetuated over time as a way of understanding the work, maintained even under
the communists, the Romanian villages was a sought transformation of the social
units based on peasant household, the agricultural production units for efficient
exploitation of agricultural potential.
Although the results were remarkable, an important share in the payment of the
external debt in the late 80 s back agriculture. We consider that land dispossession
of the peasants and the agricultural areas for large concentration of labor productivity
growth enjoyed adhesion among peasants, first outsourcing surplus value derived
from intensive agricultural land and its transfer to the national economy.
The peasant philosophy subsistence oriented, reconfigured according to the political
changes, maintaining even the farms by reducing the agricultural land area
possessed.
This shift achieved by diversifying sources of income needed for family household.
Commuting from the communist phenomenon is an example of this form of
adaptation. For those who have left the villages there was a tendency to return after
1990. Some of the industrial cities returned from retirement age. Nevertheless, there
are large proportions of those who left the jobs in the urban side and returned to their
villages, with the original purpose of dealing with agriculture. The difficulties that
followed during the 22 years of transition have brought the focus of family
diversification through temporary migration inflows, especially abroad; there is no
possibility of commuting. Note that economic ties between the left, especially young
people, and family groups did not cease, and plans to return to their native places
are obvious, especially thanks to the investments in construction of houses.
The analytical perspective is open by the approach that helps to explain some
paradoxes of the Romanian society. Although the agricultural potential is significant,
however, rural residents are not oriented in investments in the labor productivity
growth and benefit gained from working outside the community is intend to provide
comfort and modernization of farms. Employment in agriculture continues to be
limited to the needs of the family or the circumstances under occupation temporary
inability to work better paid.
Keeping a point of view that the economic profile of peasant farming "does not share,
in terms of economic behavior, rational philosophy oriented capital, whose aim is the
exploitation of the gains as large, high rent capitalist. Its aim is not the labor
productivity, but the employment of the labor available" (Dumitrescu, 2009, p.470).
Currently, the employment of the labor is not compulsory in farming, but by working
under the best paid areas. The alternative offered by the different areas of economic
activity of agriculture has reduced propensity to gain ground. This principle of
economic adjustment can justify many cases partial exploitation of agricultural lands

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
207while refusing the sale of worked. They can be considering by owners required
reserves during the crisis of labor occupied in productive activities other than
agriculture.
These readjustments of the world today a based on specific rural villages in the
interwar period, identified by the researchers of the Sociology School of Bucharest.
In the work mentioned above, Mircea Vulcanescu, one of the stalwarts of student
teams led by Dimitrie Gusti, is paraphrase: "Between the capitalist enterprise and the
peasant economy is a difference of structure. Holding the capitalist revolve around
money, a fundamental element, as long as peasant farming foundation is the family
group. Capitalist enterprise is the unit of production to achieve a maximum income
per unit of expense money due to continue running a business. Peasant household is
a foreign capitalist philosophy in the sense that its core, the family group, it operates
with categories such as rent, wages, material costs, net profit etc…, and the work is
intermittent. Romanian household is both a producer and a consumer unit. Based on
the work of its members, it aims to meet consumer needs based only on the family
group." (Dumitrescu, 2009, p.471).
The interwar analyzes of "peasant question" have shown a true aspect of the present
farms: persistence and ability to survive in any social context. The farms are more
flexible and adapted to change than farms based on the flow of capital, with
predominant focus on the minimum allowed ignoring the maximum possible "in terms
of intensity of labor exploitation, capitalist enterprise seeking the maximum profit per
unit of expense money. With insufficient exploitation of resources, the low
productivity of labor, occasioned by a technologically primitive production costs
exceeding the total cost, capitalist enterprise goes bankrupt. The goal is to maximize
the income per peasant household labor unit, in this case exist a lower limit-
bankruptcy-but a "relatively high" that consumer needs. Moreover, it is and explains
the survival of peasant farming in contexts characterized by scarcity of resources the
capitalist enterprise seems pointless. "(Dumitrescu, 2009. p. 471).
Foregoing illustrates the systems value of the Romanian rural communities
compared to Western in substance between peasant and capitalist economy.
The main factor is the economic downturn, which has disrupted the economies of
rural economy specific niche. The lack of the economic peasant’s subterfuge led to a
deterioration of households who are marginalize in the economy based on specific
capital inflow modern economy. Thus, "[…] 93.7% of Romania's territory is rural
territory in the rural side today lives 45% of Romanians, 40% of those working are
employed in activities located in rural, agricultural contribution to GDP is building, but
only 13.4% in 2002 (although in 1990 was 21.2%)." (Badescu, 2009. p.476).
The collapse of agriculture in the area occupied by the economic productivity,
revealed by decreasing the impact on GDP, but with high labor employment,

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208illustrates by the current turmoil in the Romanian society, still unable to find balance
target set in the rural population. Although after 1990s has appears many modern
farms, productive and a major impact on national economy. Still visible in most of the
population is not observing improvement in the living standards, which suggests the
idea of moving from there to the phrase " two Romania countries – one urban and
one rural " a tint of vision on rural areas where two worlds coexist: the traditional and
modern one. The price paid from the status quo is the constant impoverishment of a
large proportion of the rural population. The dimensions of the rural poverty are three
times higher than in urban areas and indicators that show size analysis are those of
severe poverty (Badescu, 2009, p.476), which in 2002 reached 11%. Use of the
statistical indicators of poverty can be misleading in a one-dimensional approach.
Extreme poverty, defined as income less than a dollar a day has reduced weight,
suggesting a reduced rate of poverty. The indicator that best illustrates the
dimensions of poverty, with future implications difficult to estimate at present is that
of poverty vertical range of specialists presented the Sociology Institute of the
Romanian Academy (Badescu, 2005, pp.33-39).
The development in the rural areas of two philosophies based on two existing lines: a
crystallized around profit, following the Western model, the other based on the
traditional philosophy of the rural economy.
In the case of the two categories are entitled to a brief comment on Romanian
traditional value system.
Traditional old world included work on the same footing with the other elements of
the universe specific areas. Hierarchy of social values based on the principles, which
excluded profit as a priority group and individual existence.
In an effort to produce a typology of values, the author Rudolf Rezsohazy (2008,
pp.18-21), advancing a classification dividing them into: core values, structural
values, peripheral values, final values, instrumental values values overall, sectored
values, explicit values, default values, hidden values. Using this reference, in an
effort to understand the traditional philosophy, believe that the definition given by the
author mentioned values structuring is relevant: "They all orders, create hierarchy,
provides the ultimate explanation of crucial decisions. Through them, the actor gives
their life orientation. For some, the families structure, for others, love and
professional success, religion or football or any combination of two or three
predominant values. They allow plotting profile actors and profiles reveals that large
grouped families have similar values present in society: e.g. "postmodernists",
"traditionalists", Christians, laity, right, or left orientations, following criteria"
(Rezsohazy, 2008, 20).
The persistence of these values related to the specific culture of a nation's culture
and social model in culture. If Romanians can see the two forms of socializing the

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
209individual: the first is based on traditional values, values which are transmitted
structured way of understanding the world and existential universe, and the second
belongs to the formal education system and institutionalized. The two social systems
complement each other to a point where the individual will build on those social
forms that are closest to their own personality structure. The general tendency will be
to prioritize the passage of the two systems and one in the background, although
they do not involve removing the other. This shift is support by the orientation of the
population to levels that meet the educational needs of hearing individuals at a time.
In this case, adoption of traditional philosophy of life is follow by taking a lower level
of education, because that tradition provides answers existential questions. Limiting
education exposes individuals only when necessary to major risks in times of crisis.
For example, in 2005, the researcher reports: "The rural population, 23.7% have an
average education level (high school and colleges), 20.9% less than in urban areas.
This gap added and the stock at higher education, which reached -15.2% below the
city, for the two components of the stock reaching rural-urban gap threshold of 36%"
(Badescu, 2005, pp. 6-7).
The educational gap favoring the traditionalist orientation of the peasants at the
expense of entrepreneurship of Western origin, generating risk aversion and
reluctance bank financial instruments designed to transform subsistence peasant
economy, based on the principle of the minimum allowed, the maximum possible
oriented farms. It can be a good reason of reduced financial support for investment in
agriculture. In addition, accessing European funds for developing agricultural farms is
insignificant. Although financing conditions incubate a number of cumbersome
bureaucratic and discouraging conditions, however, believe that indifference to small
landowner’s possibilities is justified further by defining value system.
References to rural entrepreneurship are defines largely by economic definitions. In
parallel with this we refer to the transformation of rural areas, a different attitude,
which, though undefined, may be an entrepreneurial vision of Romanians: if the
economic definitions distinguish between the farm production and peasant economy,
in terms of the rural residents can speak of the peasant economy understood as a
means of a family support group. This is not an end in itself and is not regard as a
permanent objective of the activity. Since determining the value system of the rural
traditions, low labor intensity to the level of assurance minimum allowed, making the
family to seek new opportunities for self-supporting, giving, easy even for the
operation of agricultural property. Alternatives found in the communist era consisted
in carrying out professional activities in other non-agricultural sectors, located
predominantly in urban areas. The family center still has floated around the village
household, reduced by political reasons to housing and supporting the group. The
investments made by the new proletarians of the houses are a clue of their intention.
The constant links with the family, in the traditional vision, is the argue trends

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
210changes in the way of obtaining the minimum allowed by the traditional household
storage, in many cases only the symbolic value, and the subsistence of the family by
working outside the home.
Although the traditional world was unbalanced by eliminating or reducing a
component (joint work of the family), however, other components of the traditional
values have remained present and accounted for substitute work outside the home
had enough to perpetuate the traditionalist model. Later in 1990, the trend of
returning to areas from regaining ownership, led to a symbiosis between the two
formulas to ensure the minimum acceptable. The new owners or the potential owners
(the future rights of inheritance) compared the alternatives and chose the most
convenient formulas by reporting the requirements to ensure their effort. We
appreciate that in this context, traditional philosophy was preserved, and the rural
residents were specifically adapted to a modern economic context, ensuring the
minimum allowed by the outsourcing of the economic activities in order to ensure
convenient report work-incomes.
The frequent economic crises of the last 22 years have affected the income from work
in industry, and for a period of the economic emigration has become the main outlet.
The recent global economic crisis has affected the constant financial turn flow from
developed countries targeted by Romanian families in rural communities, leading to
limiting the use and ownership of a state of expectation. Recovery trend in agriculture is
low due to how the report needs work is valued for work outside the home.
The concerns migrants show interest in their home communities through major
investments in building homes and modernizing traditional households, but only in
terms of housing and not the intention of turning into farm production.
The peasant economy, understood as an economic unit, entered into dissolution, but
the spirit that has sustained for centuries this form to ensure their subsistence
remained alive. The subsistence farm work was a means of ensuring survival. In the
present economic alternatives offered by the industry and its work overseas units
underlying the economic downturn, but the mutual support system of the family
members has remained relatively constant.
Change in components of the traditional values: customs, traditions, superstitions, etc.
are dynamic. The functions performed by the time they disappeared, they gained
importance only to the ritual devoid of meaning in a period of the secularization of
society.
In the present context we can say that in terms we can speak of a rural family-based
entrepreneurship and spiritual soul ties between members, the economic activity is
complementary.
The relationship between economics and culture requires a complex connections.
Ignoring them can lead to failure of the whole reform program. The past experiences

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
211 of development policies revealed that similar projects implemented in similar
geographical areas in the world of economic, do not include condition of successful
comparable conditions of different cultural foundations. In this mean, the
anthropologist Conrad Kottak (1990, pp. 723-731) classify projects into two
consistent categories "compatible culturally projects and incompatible culturally
projects". This conclusion results from the study of many World Bank projects
implemented in several regions. Cultural differences have become in many cases
insurmountable obstacles in the development of regional or local. Ignoring this
feature has led to failures in some regions where tradition is strong in comparison
with the development. The paradigm underlying the reductionism in implementing
development projects resulting from the economic approach to social reality, which is
much closer to Western philosophy.
The cultural dimension of a community is defined differently and is located mostly in
the background, without the cultural equivalent economic size, some authors
consider culture as "being a static and a voice coming from the past" (Rao and
Walton, 2004). Culture is for many practitioners as having a purely theoretical value,
isolated from any practical use "Rather than being seen as a practical way to solve
everyday problems, culture is seen as tradition records that are stored symbolic
elements and of identity. When speaking of a group culture, most people think of
artifacts, music, language, food, heritage, symbols, myths and archetypes in other
words, an amount of nonsocial and noneconomic objects, floating somewhere above
society" (Chelcea, 2006, p.124).
Another approach to practitioners is that of considering culture as a "residual
variable", a generic term that includes any element "of what is not explained by
education, income, age, gender, capital, etc." (Chelcea, 2006, p. 124).
Returning to the relationship between culture and economy, consider that in the case
of Romania, the rural population is the holder of a traditional cultural heritage in the
economy is only one dimension of a complex system. In this case, cognitive effort
requires notification of when they meet the conditions for the development or
community development. It is important the will of change and how it is perceived.
The research in biology and paleontology has allowed explanation of the causes of
evolution, which have transposed by anthropologists to explain the changes through
which a society passes. Alfred's Law Rommer (Chelcea, 2006, p.126), innovation
and evolution appears were the body survival is necessary, affected by a hostile
context and the purpose is the system balanced and not evolution.
From this point of view, the willing to change conditioned by the need to seek social
life balance. Social development can be planned according to the cultural context in
relation to the tectonic geopolitical affected by globalization.

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
212 To what extent attachment to the family group will be affect by the dissolution of
traditional integrator universe is a question that will get a satisfactory answer in the
coming years.
3.  The rural entrepreneurial trends
The transformations in Romania during the transition perpetual led to some
significant changes in the economic sectors.
The globalization has generated and rushed to adopt a new set of values, similar to
advanced societies. The rule of property values led to a number of changes with
effects more or less noticeable now.
In Romania we find a clear distinction between the two social environments, the
focus tends to modernize the urban area and most the entrepreneurial, while the
rural areas is dependent on the agricultural work.
Between the two social environments there is a functional interdependence of
economic agents, the relocation of businesses in cities in neighboring villages to
reduce the maintenance costs, but provides services and products towns, intense
trade that led to activation economic environment in cities and rural areas to place
depending on the urban economic and social front.
In the rural areas, we cannot speak of a labor market and the employment is different
activating the population by the level of education. The urban area attract the skilled
workers overqualified while the rural elderly population is concentrated, poorly
qualified workforce and low population studies. The statistics indicate that such a
state of affairs raises serious problems in modernizing rural communities, the lack of
development agents.
The current trends in entrepreneurial activities are different from those in the urban
areas. Although the number of landowners is high, one cannot speak of the
emergence of an entrepreneurial culture.
With regard to the urban educational structure shows that the population of working
age, investments in various sectors, of which emerges the tertiary sector, illustrates
an adaptation of the model of Western urban economy. One of the most important
factors contributing to this change is that of the foreign investment, especially big
corporations peak areas like telecommunications, IT, finance and banks, which have
become agents of the corporate culture in Romania.
These agents increase the modernism, given by the specific activity, favored the
implementation of a new set of the social values of the urban Romanians. Started
under the communists, because the forced industrialization, this new set started to
be really internalize after 1990. Productivity, competitiveness, profits have become

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
213 milestones in active Romanians working in these sectors. The Romanian traditional
cultural specificity, based in rural areas, has lost a number of features and major
cities of Romania like in terms of values assumed by the West.
Some statistics (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 2010,
data processing) are relevant in understanding the discrepancies between the two
environments. Although in terms of population living in rural areas almost half of the
Romanian citizens (44.9% in 2009), however in terms of employment only 28.7% of
the population were enrolled in agriculture. Most of the population is employ in
industry, 42.8%, followed by those in the services sector with 21.1% and 7.4% are
employing in construction. Between years 2008-2009, there were few changes in the
percentage of core business areas: employment in agriculture increased from 27.5%
to 28.7%, industry employment increased from 42.0% to 42, 8% in services
employment decreased from 22.6% to 21.1%, while construction employment rate
fell from 7.9% to 7.4%.
The slight increase in the employment in agriculture had concluded in the previous
section regarding the use of labor in agriculture as a refuge in times of economic
crisis. The reduced activity in areas such as construction services can be found in
the other two major areas, such as industry and agriculture, (overall decreases in the
first two areas meet 2.0%, identical to the percentage growth in employment in
sectors where there was an increase).
The different cultural foundations can be found in economic concentration in the two
residences.
By processing the statistical data (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical
Yearbook, 2010, data processing) and comparing the results obtained shows that at
the beginning of recorded (2002) farms had 3.19% of all enterprises, the industry
trade and other services accounted for 96.15% and financial and insurance
accounted for 0.65%.
Between years 2008-2009, the same types of companies (National Statistic Institute,
Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 2010, data processing) had the following
percentages: those in agriculture increased from 2.45% to 2.79%, those of industry,
commerce and other services decreased from 96.29% to 95.87% and financial and
insurance increased from 1.26% to 1.34%.
These changes, which try to capture the economic configuration changes, indicate a
decrease of entrepreneurship in agricultural activities, due to trend growth rate of
employment in agriculture.
Increasing the share of the financial and insurance companies reveals urban
economic orientation towards the tertiary sector, due to the consolidation of these
institutions in the cities.

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
214 The specific activities of the rural areas, particularly agriculture, is carried into the
emergency investments on individual holdings or, rather, into refugees from the crisis
due to the lack of the economic opportunities in the urban areas or the lack of jobs
for professionals such as the industrial and requiring a medium or lower level
qualifications.
How the land is distributed in, the rural areas continue the trend to keep the
individual holdings, the family and difficulties in the developing economic entities with
legal personality. Recall that the second category, which includes units with legal
personality, is one that involves the use of wage labor.
Thus, depending on the legal status of farms, the results of the Agricultural Census
in 2002 shows an overwhelming proportion of over 90% of the agricultural land
owned by the individual farms. For comparison, census data have been update
through the structural surveys in 2005 and 2007.
The trends in these statistics (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical
Yearbook, 2010, and data processing) indicate a decrease in the total number of
farms between years 2002-2007, with a rate of 12.34%. The number of farms
exploited agricultural areas decreased by 10.41%. The reducing farms have led to
lower land farmed, by 1.28%. Returning average size of farms increased by 12.54%
and a surface that is used land holdings increased by 10.19%.
Increasing agricultural land area per unit of production is due to decrease their
number.
By comparison, of the legal status and individual, we find that the number of
individual holdings fell by 12.29% and those with legal status decreased by 21.93%.
Among those who used agricultural area, individual holdings fell by 10.35%, while
those with legal personality fell 21.15%. If agricultural land use is established and the
first difference that highlights the differences in structure between the two entities:
the individual holdings utilized agricultural area increased by 16.31% and the use of
legal personality holdings fell by 23.07%.
The agricultural areas that a assigned an individual holding higher 32.37% and
30.00% for those who use agricultural area. Holdings with legal decreased 1.45%
and 2.43% for those who use agricultural areas.
These differences show that due to the economic inconsistencies lose much of
Romania's agricultural potential by non-exploitation. To assess the full extent of
losses should the Romanian economy, as the figures above, to add other factors that
contribute to the overall decline of agriculture: the lack of modern facilities, lack of
technology, preferences subsistence the crops (wheat and corn). From this point of
view, the use of large areas of agricultural land is not sufficient for realizing the
existing potential. If the yield per hectare is lower than in the past or than the
maximum you can get, we can speak of understanding the agricultural potential.

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
215Recent research has revealed that rural restructuring involves the overcoming
obstacles, which turns into identified factors of the current events in rural areas. C.
Doltu (2011, p. 15) mentions six such obstacles "in rural areas are less opportunities
to find jobs compared to urban areas. Second, government programs that address
rural often suffer an inconsistent approach to encourage small businesses. Thirdly,
the rural development of human capital is lower, compared to urban areas. Fourth,
the expertise that exists at local government level is not sufficient for recovery
potentials. Fifth, most times, the existing infrastructure in rural areas is in a
precarious state and prevent business and reduce transition costs. Finally, often
government for rural development approaches have proved ineffective precisely
because they ignored the importance of involving communities and, especially, have
sought to promote entrepreneurship in rural areas".
Another important element of productive agriculture was in relation to the philosophy
of life in the previous section of this article. Thus, selling large quantities of products,
generating a profit for those involved in this field, but also for the Romanian state. By
providing a minimum level allowed by the individual producers believe that the
current preferences of individual properties and preservation of a small family group
subsistence non-agricultural labor or in cities or abroad, will change and will prefer
the intensive use of agricultural land owned.
The statistical differences above illustrate that depending on individual holdings the
dynamic national economy are more adaptable than with legal personality, whose
share is declining.
The farms with the legal category consist of the following entities: companies/
agricultural associations, businesses, government units, cooperative units and other
organizations.
These entities have different trends (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical
Yearbook, 2010, data processing). Between years 2002-2007, companies and
agricultural associations decreased by 34.76%, and those who use agricultural land
34.31%. Agricultural area decreased by 36.87% and the average returns for such an
entity that has used farmland decreased by 3.90%. Statistical data show a decline in
agricultural societies or associations.
Companies (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 2010, data
processing) decreased by 16.15%, and those who use agricultural areas have
reduced the number to 13.30%. Exploited agricultural land decreased by 10.04%.
The average area of companies, increased by 7.28% and 3.76% for those used
agricultural area. This percentage shows a tendency to extend the tenure and not
exploit it. In a way we can explain the increased average area of land that belongs to
a company compared with the the increase only half of the companies exploited
areas. The weakening of the number of these entities is an increase in the average

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216 agricultural land, which is a company, which as maintaining a relatively constant
surface amid dynamic economic entities with this profile. The conclusion that
emerges is that of the agricultural land use as a liability in other transactions, used as
collateral for bank loans or purchased in anticipation of price increases.
The government units decreased by 26.69%, while those who used agricultural areas
decreased by 26.40%. Utilized agricultural area decreased by 34.71% and the
average land that an entity of this type decreased by 11.29% for those who use
agricultural areas. Negative values of these statistical indicators show the trend of
sharp decline in economic importance of this type of economic entity.
Cooperative units (National Statistic Institute, Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 2010,
data processing) reduced their share to 18.39%, while those who used agricultural
areas decreased by 9.09%. Utilized agricultural area increased by 537.94% and the
average agricultural land, which accounted in 2007 for a unit of this type, compared
to 2002 increased by 601.63%. This dynamic is the main argument of the tendency
of association of small farmers.
The comparison of the farms with the legal personality dynamics indicates the
formation of the rural economic structure. It continues to be drive by a small
agricultural property and the future seems to belong to the cooperative units, where it
seems that there is the strong growth. Given the use of the economic rent for these
entities, believe that this formula is the closest economic future intentions of the
landowners in the rural areas. The combination reduces the workload necessary to
maintain the individual farm and allow family members to seek revenue growth in
non-agricultural activities.
If units with legal appreciate that quality standard adopted is closer to requirements
of modern agriculture and statistical structure of the data presented above show that
the association of individual holdings is as labor in agriculture modernization closest
to the needs of the rural population areas.
Trying to correlate statistical data reveals that the Romanian traditional cultural
substrate that the earth is a landmark in subsistence. The current dynamics of land
ownership shows that there is logic for a large part of Romanian. The current mindset
is the result of long searches in the social functions performed by the reference to
tradition replaced with the corresponding present stage of development. This process
is underway, and the balancing trends upheaval due to the strong impact of
globalization.
The dynamism of the social system in rural areas is evident in the current conditions.
But you can find directions in field research that shows a lack of action and solutions
unit of time on substantive issues. Transition from subsistence household to
agricultural farm is a prerequisite for the development boost, a uniform way of rural

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
217communities. Production activities anywhere in the world are dependent on existing
or potential markets. Downtime production units, large or small, the market is specific
to the Romanian rural and effects found in minimalist philosophy and strategies
based on the family group and family work outside the home.
In Romania, we cannot talk now of an entrepreneurship following the Western model
but a peasant family adapt to new changes in time. The central pivot in the current
social and economic context remains family and group family subsistence. Center of
gravity given by the traditional peasant economy, tightened around the house home.
Time solution found by Romanian outsourcing labor available and creating adding
value through the financial aid sent to the leaving one.
4. Conclusions: is there apossibilityfor areal
entrepreneurship inthe rural Romanian environment?
Instead of conclusions, we prefer to conclude with this question, which is a result of
the annalistic point of view of the current dynamics of the rural Romanian processes.
The economic attractiveness of the current configurations of the Romanian rural area
is limited to the certain areas or regions. The functionality of the private companies,
based on a modern philosophy of profit can disrupted by competition with a high
volume of individual farms, as witness partial or complete cycles of use depending on
the cost-benefit minimum circumscribed and maximum possible allowed. The brutal
intervention does not guarantee rapid transformation and internalization the Western
value system in which all-economic activity focused on profit. Family strategies are a
mindset and proven to future actions, supported by existing statistics are focused on
maintaining the family group and the peasant economy was subsistence as an
assurance instrument specific to the traditional communities. Today the meaning of
financial support is working on possible qualified outside the home where profit is
higher than agriculture.
The economic reform of the Romanian society requires special attention to how the
agricultural potential used as the expected value and the increased productivity
needed to balance the social macrostructure. Under current conditions of the rural
economic reforms are insufficient to balance the countryside, as long as the balance
between teaching traditional philosophy involves delimiting each rural community
cultural, spiritual, social, and economic. Although reform may be strong pressure, it
will not cause social hierarchy from the economic frameworks, but there will always
tend to balance the complex connections between all four frames, and costs will
reflected in the subordination of other frames supporting agricultural productivity and
substitution work in agriculture to non-agricultural labor when there is this possibility.
The subsistence needs of the family group will require continuous cost-income ratio
and the expense of sacrificing other social frameworks is a misnomer in the current

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
218 context. Predisposition to development can found in the rural population. Thus, any
analysis of the traditions preserved in the Romanian villages there is loss of the
traditional customs and rituals that accompany them. However, field research
conducted in recent years, denoting a subordinate mentality foundation of social
balance. If traditions explain the existential understanding of the universe and had
the necessary functions to balance the community now rural population living in a
secularized world that we accept without opposition, but the objectives found in the
rural citizens are confine to ensuring institutional pillars of community needed to
balance the new conditions. In every village wants a system to medical, educational,
economic, religious, and cultural. Its absence is compensating by temporary or
permanent migration for education, travel to cities or communities where there are
medical centers; the desire of each community has at least one church or the
existence of jobs in town or closer to it. The cultural needs are cover by a full
coverage with a satellite television and the increasing number of dwellings in rural
areas who have an internet connection. Modern means of communication (fixed and
mobile) are widely used in rural areas.
These opinions denote the reorganization of the social system from within and
without foreign interference in its own rhythms and needs to identify by the villagers.
The transformation is the current goal of identifying the new functions balancing
community systems, and the proof is giving up the traditional no longer do so. This
mentality of the rural population is base on the idea that these communities cannot
exist only as groups of profit-oriented investors in agriculture, but the existential and
the areas of social and community life.
In opinions of the experts, "in the current economic conditions worldwide and in
relation to our situation we should question the overall strategy of medium-term
development, realization of a, including that of an economy driven by knowledge of
the type, with an economic structure and competitive modern industrial-agricultural
and tourism developed with diverse functions: cultural, medical, leisure, education,
etc.. "(Hoffman and Glodeanu, 2009, p. 490).
The resistance to changed can be explain in cultural terms, are result of a particular
philosophy, probably restricted to the basic needs of the family group, conditions that
are difficult to prepare a rural development policy and support of entrepreneurship,
given the general orientation individuals to protect what they hold. A good example is
the case of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century, in a century has been pass
by the Britain’s in economic and innovation because of the tendency to preservation
of order present and limit investments in commercial capacity by building ship.
(Doltu, C., 2011, p. 19).
The current research conducted in rural areas, appears that people are confused,
and the problems mention people seem overwhelming. Overall vision and focus on

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
219 the relief identify existing problems and not to identify opportunities. The strategy
behind this attitude is based "on the idea of convincing the authorities to give them
more support, more public resources" (Doltu, C., 2011, p. 23). Such a strategy
involves waiting and delaying, making problems persist, and the infusion of capital
helps to limit the consequences of problems only and not to eradicate them. Focus
human and material resources to solve problems is relative in terms of results given
that they are effects of the lack of development programs and causes of stagnation.
For example, guaranteed minimum support has generated wealth in the communities
where the number of persons included in this category. Support helps to limit survival
to keeping certain people. Along with social measures, such as the previous
example, the limited economic collapse of a whole class of citizens, future
projections are needed to determine which endpoints and intermediate strategies,
other than those aimed at solving problems. We believe that many problems can be
solved by individual solutions found by citizens, public institutions mission.
The imitation is not a solution for rural reform and the consequences are
unpredictable at the start of the reforms based on imitation.
The economic reforms should aim at re-evaluation of the cost-income population,
subsistence necessary for work in agriculture or non-agricultural activities carried out
in the rural communities.
One of the factors with the major impact on how people calculate the cost-benefit is
the lack of assistance in marketing of farm products, the impossibility of annual
agricultural production planning and lack of markets. Sizing crop is guide by
possibilities of selling individual and popular markets. The individual farm level is not
able to carry out an effective marketing and production of early contracting. Any
investment trends in agricultural production weighted by market instability of
agricultural and speculative pressure to disrupt the onset or development of a
coherent flow of agricultural products from producers to buyers.
We believe that intervention in this area is a first step towards regulating the rural
economy and facilitate local agricultural production by providing superior dissolution of
agricultural products allows valuing the cost-benefit of the small farmers producers.
Add to this the need for support and assistance in financing the necessary equipment
and the establishment of crop production. The provision of such services we can hope
for agriculture in non-farm diversification activities. The development of such
agricultural support transfer calculations can expected from individual cost-benefit, now
conveniently through outsourcing of labor surplus to labor use in agriculture and
individual investments in agricultural holdings, which the productivity and sales
provides a cost-benefit ratio than that achieved by outsourcing labor.
Solutions offered over time suggests that the objectives of rural development policies
are identified and known, but the results so far show that paths have been identified
and steps had been taken for them to be achieved.

Journal of Community Positive Practices 2/2012
220Relative resistance to change is justified by reference to the principles presented in
this article, and strong family links substantiate strategies is the result of an individual
adaptation to a hostile economic and social context. For example, statistical
calculations (National Statistics Institute, 2002), showed a rate of economic
dependence on the inactive 1449 to 1000 active people. In urban areas the rate of
dependence is 1329 inactive to 1000 active people, while in rural areas this rate
dependence is 1598 inactive people to 1000 for active people.
This report is higher than in the year 1992 (National Statistics Institute, 1992) and
census results of 2011 will confirm or disprove this trend continuing. Increasing the
economic dependency is the tendency to detachment of macro social policies and
preference for survival niches. Between the two systems, there are no annoyance
relationships, and population choices are not base on anti-modernist tradition but
accepted calculation of the easiest and most convenient report in this context.
In an attempt to answer the question in this section, we consider that a genuine
Romanian entrepreneurship can be possible only if the group built around family and
its interests and not the profit based on the Western philosophy, which, at least at
this stage involves major sacrifices for most rural citizens.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper is suported by the Sectorial Operational Programme Human Resources
Development (SOP HRD), financed from the European Social Fund and by the
Romanian Government under the contract number SOP HRD/89/1.5/S/59758”
Title and intellectual and industrial property rights on the results of the post-doctoral
research internship belongs Romanian Academy