Investment Support for Small Businesses of the Regional Agroindustrial Complex

Abstract

Subject. Investment activity of subjects of regional agribusiness. Topic. Investment support for small businesses in the agro-industrial complex. Purpose. Development of a mechanism for managing investment activities of small businesses in the agro-industrial complex and substantiation of practical proposals for attracting investments in the development of the farming sector based on an assessment of their competitiveness. Methodology. During the research, traditional research methods were used: economic and mathematical, statistical analysis, monographic, computational and constructive, graphic, systemic and comparative analytical. Results. The theoretical understanding of the essence of «investment management» has been clarified in relation to small forms of management in the agro-industrial complex, the economic toolkit for attracting investment resources to the agricultural sector has been determined. The authors have developed a step-by-step mechanism for managing investment activities, taking into account the factor characteristics of agricultural production. Measures are proposed for the selection of peasant (farmer) households for the provision of state support, taking into account the assessment of their competitiveness in the agricultural market using the method of cluster analysis and taking into account the strategic priorities of the region. Application area. The results of the work can be used by regional authorities in the development of investment policy in relation to small forms of agribusiness. Conclusions. Management of investment activities of small businesses is interpreted as a set of management decisions to determine the source of investments, optimize their composition and purpose of use, with the subsequent accumulation of financial resources while reducing the cost of production. On the basis of the method of classification of multidimensional observations in order to determine the similarity or proximity between objects, indicators have been established that characterize the financial and economic activities of peasant (farmer) enterprises in the municipal districts of the Oryol region. Four clusters of peasant (farmer) households have been identified. It is advisable to use the results of cluster analysis as part of the selection procedure for peasant (farmer) households to participate in a competition for a grant from regional or federal government bodies. Keywords: small forms of economy, management, agricultural economy, investments, peasant (farm) farms, state, agriculture, financial resources, competitiveness, cluster.