Annotation

The article presents a deep study of the scientific fundamentals and consolidates the theoretical concepts of assessment of the importance of the socially responsible activity of agricultural enterprises for development of the rural territories where they run their activity. Agricultural enterprises perform not only as classical economic agents of productive and economic direction, but also as social ones as they are socially responsible to the society, their employees and the rural public. The essence of social responsibility is revealed in formation of the socially focused spending experienced by agricultural enterprises along with providing economic and social benefits.

The author identifies social types of the enterprises’ activity, particularly philanthropy, volunteering, social entrepreneurship. The work outlines differences between a classical enterprise and a socially responsible one. It is noted that the first one is established in order to enrich, whilst the second aims to combine commercial and social tasks. Thus, socially responsible activity is no longer secondary, but the principal type of activity, and agricultural enterprises leave traditional non-profitable activities and create a new “hybrid” approach to running agribusiness.

Socially responsible activity is the instrument of funding expenses to establish the business partners’ confidence to the agricultural enterprises; to improve the quality and competitiveness of agricultural products the enterprises produces; to develop the social and production infrastructure of rural territories and thus, to create additional job places, generating loyalty of the enterprise’s employees, to form a strong corporate spirit and reach a low level of staff turnover.

The research proves the impact of social responsibility as the element of economic efficiency on development of rural territories and formation of the economic self-sufficiency of rural public. It is determined that successful development of rural territories should be a result of the consolidated social responsibility and interaction of the state, agricultural enterprises and bodies of local government. The importance of socially responsible activity of agricultural enterprises for development of rural territories is revealed in formation of revenues to local budgets, increased employment for rural population, improvement of the social and production infrastructure, etc. To ensure effectiveness of the mechanism of implementation of the socially responsibility measures, management of the agricultural enterprises should integrate social responsibility into the strategy of interaction with local authorities.