Have the eu pre-accession funds achieved their purpose? Beneficiary perspectives on the effects of the funds on production quality, rural development and sustainability

Abstract

Turkey's relations with the European Union (EU) financial assistance, which began in 1963, continue today. The IPARD (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Rural Development) program aims to increase the efficiency of enterprises and achieve Community quality and quality management standards to achieve rural development and sustainability. This research aimed to measure investors' perceptions of the quality (QA), after-sales quality (ASQ), and rural development for IPARD (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance Rural Development) funds. Additional points are given for investor and company characteristics in some measures. This research reveals whether additional scores make a significant difference. 97 enterprises that received support from IPARD I and IPARD II in Bursa province, Turkey, were interviewed. Results showed that the participants' overall perception of RDS was higher than QA and ASQ. The quality perceptions were the lowest. 25 years old and younger investors had the highest QA and ASQ perceptions. An increase in educational level has led to a rise in the QA, ASQ, and RDS perceptions. No stable trend was observed between the increase in experience and the increase in QA and ASQ perceptions. The perception of RDS is higher among the investors who claim to follow rural development activities.