%0 Journal Article %A Duarte Canever, Mario %A Pérez Chueca, Alberto %A Pfeilstetter, Richard %T An evaluation of entrepreneurship orientation within the LEADER+ program in the European Union %D 2012 %@ 2340-2717 %U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/27299 %X This article deals with the currently widely discussed entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and investigates the roles this concept actually plays within the LEADER+ development program and its implementation in three European territories. The main question addressed in this analysis is whether or not the LEADER+ envisaged EO as a basic element for rural development. Can we really observe both at the rhetoric and at the implementation levels impacts of the EO on the LEADER+? To answer this question the official programmatic documents of the EU community initiative LEADER+ are analyzed against the background of the most important EO concepts and characteristics. Subsequently, a deeper look in the implementation of LEADER+ in three European territories shows that the EO still has little impact in the actions implemented. Some major contradictory rhetoric of the LEADER+ is identified regarding EO and its importance to the development program. As well as some important suggestions for improving future development program can be derived from the analysis. These show that, despite the lack of focus on EO by the LEADER+, the concept has the potential to make a significant contribution to the successful development of regions. %K Entrepreneurial orientation %K Rural development %K LEADER+ %K Orientación emprendedora %K Desarrollo rural %K LEADER+ %K Economía %K Economics %K Geografía %K Geography %K Sociología %K Sociology %~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala