In the 1990s, the European Commission, through the then-novel Leader Initiative, launched rural development programs whose main objective was economic diversification based on the development of new recreational, touristic, or agro-industrial uses that were emerging. The modest size of the...

The article aims to give an overview of the main models in the spin-off research field and to streamline further research in this domain. The main evolution and performance models known in literature will be analysed. The evolution models will be discussed in increasing order of complexity....