ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the encouraging endogenous rural development experiences in Europe, with particular attention to peripheral Jutland in Denmark. It considers historical and contemporary European evidence concerning the emergence of endogenous development in peripheral areas. The chapter examines the nature and spatial implications of modem flexible production systems. It deals with a discussion of possible lessons for economic development in rural America. During the 1970s the population of the Copenhagen region declined in absolute terms, while that in rural areas and towns with fewer than 13,000inhabitants increased by 7 percent. Conscious of the limitations of their small home market, Danish small- and medium-size enterprises have sought out niches in international trade in areas often overlooked by large industrial firms in other countries. The cultural factor in Danish rural industrialization is evident in the fact that many first-generation industrial workers have displayed traditional attitudes toward work, e.g. they have low rates of absenteeism and a high degree of flexibility.
