The aim of the study was to analyse the similarities and differences between the individual provinces of the functional region of Eastern Poland. Special emphasis was placed on compar-ison of the areas which were qualified as strategic ones in the updated version of the Strategy for Socio-economic Development of Eastern Poland until 2020. To compare the level of economic development, the innovative potential, labour resources, quality of human capital, and the development of transport infrastructure in the individual provinces, Hellwig’s taxonomic measure of development and Ward’s agglomeration combinatorial method were used. This made it possible to identify which of the areas under analysis can be regarded as a relatively homogeneous sphere of intervention and which require an individual approach.
1. Purpose The authors of this article make an attempt at verifying the usefulness of the foresight concept in instituting favorable conditions for socio-economic regional development, particularly based on the West Pomeranian voivodeship. 2. Methodology Based on European and Japanese foresight experiences, the authors made an evaluation of the program effects in the West Pomeranian voivodeship, both in terms of 'rigid' outcomes (i.e. reports, technological knowledge) and 'soft' outcomes (i.e. values). The latter turned out to have the most significant effects. Moreover, socio-economic development conditions of the region were analyzed together with the expectations of regional leaders regarding the conditions that lead to individual commitment to regional development, cooperation and responsibility. The data for the analysis was gathered during a focus group discussion and supplemented by survey results. 3. Findings A comparison of the foresight program outcomes with the expectations of regional leaders indicated that foresight is a desirable form of support for the development of the West Pomeranian voivodeship. 4. Originality The originality of the paper rests on the related long-term Japanese experience in applying foresight and the obtained results through this method in terms of socio-economic needs of the West Pomeranian voivodeship were defined during the focus group discussion. The authors showed the potential of using foresight not only as a method of developing directions for the development of regional innovation policy but also as a method that supports forming adequate conditions for socio-economic regional development.
This analysis conducted between 1997 and 2001 captures the spatial structure of the Hungarian economy at the turn of the millennium, through a wide-ranging, comprehensive system of indices. Based on analysis of the connections expressed in the figures, the authors examined what relationship could be shown between development and infrastructure, and what sub-regions and regions emerge as relatively developed or backward according to the broadly interpreted system of indices employed.
This article was drafted on the basis of results of a direct study. Its aim was to assess the activity of foreign investors in the region of Lodz. The study, among others, focused on: the structure of FDI, motives of its location in Poland and in the voivode-ship of Lodz, factors encouraging and discouraging from the continuation of operations in the region, human resources management and effects of investment. The main aim of this article is to identify and evaluate the motives of location of FDI companies in Lodz region.
The paper presents a reflection on a part of the research conducted for a doctoral dissertation entitled Educational Conditions of Regional Development (Based on Research of Roznowskie Lake Commune Associate). The author attempts to draw attention to the opportunities offered by the Internet Network in developing rural milieus. Interviews, observations and analyses of selected websites conducted during the research helped to discover the importance of the Internet access and the need for ICT education. Moreover, the author presents the diverse character of the Internet – websites, e-learning centers, newsletters, etc. Basing on the literature of the subject (by Ewa Solarczyk-Ambrozik among others) the first part of the paper provides information about the local development of villages, and presents the issue of education. The second part concerns educational forms of web activities undertaken by village residents. The author, for example, raises the subject of useful websites. The third part features some information on web-based information bulletins referred to as newsletters. Finally, the author summarizes potential ways of the Internet access along with the resulting opportunities. All this leads to the conclusion that the development of rural milieus is impossible today without computerization, ITC education and providing village residents with the Internet access.
The paper presents a comparative analysis of the quality of regional development in powiats in the Małopolskie Voivodship. For this purpose, the Regional Development Index, based on aggregation of the Principal Component Analysis results, was proposed. The development of the region includes quantitative changes in the economy (in production, investment, and employment) and qualitative changes (in the structure of the economy and society), so the values of the development index were also calculated separately for the area of economic, social and ecological development. The calculated value of the development indicator for each powiat made it possible to rank the regions of the Małopolskie Voivodship and to analyse changes in their level of development.
Empirical evidence is growing which shows that social capital contributes to economic development on local and regional scales, and is an ubiquitous component and determinant of progress in many kinds of development projects and an important tool for poverty reduction. Today, the importance of social capital for the economy is undisputed. Many scientific papers have been written on this subject but missing are papers on tools and ways to stimulate and develop social capital. This paper makes such an attempt.
The primary objective of this paper is to present theoretical foundations, principles of operation and the benefits resulting from efficiently functioning innovative integration relations which are cluster structures. This study attempts to assess the impact of above-mentioned forms of relations on regional and local development, as well as to indicate the conditions for development of these relations in the face of ongoing globalization processes. Clusters play a particularly important role in the context of increasing innovation across the whole economy. Moreover, thanks to their often considerable clout they are able to influence the shape of economic law, the formal institutional framework of functioning of economy. Cluster structures can be a stimulant of many positive changes, especially towards the development of advanced integration processes, as well as an effective regional and trans-regional development, and, finally, an increase of the competitiveness at global level.
PL
Podstawowym celem niniejszego opracowania jest prezentacja teoretycznych podstaw, zasad funkcjonowania oraz korzyści płynących z efektywnie funkcjonujących innowacyjnych powiązań integracyjnych, jakimi są struktury klastrowe. W opracowaniu podjęto próbę oceny wpływu ww. form powiązań na rozwój regionalny i lokalny, jak też wskazania uwarunkowań rozwoju tych związków w obliczu zachodzących procesów globalizacji. Klastry odgrywają szczególnie ważną rolę w kontekście zwiększania innowacyjności całej gospodarki. Ponadto dzięki swojej często znaczącej sile przebicia są w stanie oddziaływać na kształt prawa gospodarczego, instytucjonalno-formalne ramy funkcjonowania gospodarki. Struktury klastrowe mogą być stymulantem wielu korzystnych zmian, zwłaszcza w kierunku rozwoju zaawansowanych procesów integracyjnych, jak również efektywnego rozwoju regionalnego, ponadregionalnego czy wreszcie wzrostu konkurencyjności na poziomie globalnym.
The dynamic processes occurring in the global economy, resulting in a steadily decreasing significance of industry, require extensive action by public authorities. Both state and local governments are responsible for counteracting the effects of deindustrialisation. Structural changes are mainly caused by high land prices in cities, economy-wide fluctuations and replacement of such economic functions as the industrial production by the more vibrant branches of the economy, e.g. the residential housing or service sectors. Local self-governments are responsible for the economic development of communes. The range of instruments available to assist entrepreneurs is not very wide, while finding new investors in the midst of a profound global crisis requires energetic steps and numerous pro-investment incentives. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, tend to choose locations which are the most attractive from the point of view of economic efficiency. They expect that local and regional authorities will provide preferential conditions for investment. Special economic zones, whose performance is the focus of the present paper, offer substantial benefits for communal income and help ensure job protection.
The paper discusses the changes in the objectives of EU regional policy that have occurred over the last sixty years. The author analyses the priorities of regional policy in every programming period, geo-graphical eligibility criteria which determine financial support for particular regions and the funds used for implementing this policy. A synthetic assessment of the aforementioned issues allows the author to trace the evolution of EU regional policy from its inception to the present, with regard to the changes pro¬posed by the European Commission for the new program¬ming period.
Need of functioning of national economy on the principles of a sustainable development, cause the necessity of budgetary and tax regulation of level of financial and strategic adaptability of regions. It is caused by limited financial resources and inefficient using budgetary funds. It requires a process improvement of state regulation. In article types and the directions of use of budgetary and tax instruments of regional development are considered. The mechanism of financial security of the region in the conditions of environmentally oriented development are investigated. Its advantages and disadvantages are analysed. The essence of the concept "financial and strategic adaptability", its role and importance in the development of policy of financial security of the region are proved. Approach to improvement of the mechanism of regulation of environmentally oriented regional development by tax incentives which will promote development of effective state financial policy is offered.
Regional development is an important economic category that can be considered from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. The present paper offers an academic analysis of the concept of regional development, the complexity of this process and its association with regional (cohesion) policy. In the practical sense, an attempt is made to define the size and the scale of regional development in Poland. A specific role is assigned to European cohesion policy, which, having a huge influence for development processes, is periodically re-profiled. In the next budget planning period 2014-2020 (similarly to the previous one), the new dimension of EU cohesion policy will have a strong impact on Polish regions. Its scale will depend on the shape of the European budget as well as on the acceptance of solutions suggested by the European Commission.
The aim of this paper is to present the role of clusters as an important factor in region's intellectual capital. Special attention was paid to relations capital which develops the intellectual capital not only in the region but in the company as well. The clusters play a very important role in company development in a way of gathering different kinds of organizations, stimulate innovation and help to maintain the relations. The net of clusters connection is based upon the human capital (relation) that helps to create new and more effective relations. The effects are not related to the members of the cluster but to the business environment as well. This relations capital is very important for intellectual regional assets and determines competitiveness.
The scope and variety of the industrialisation processes occurring in Europe have a regional dimension and are closely related to the economic potential of particular regions. Industrial regions have greater economic potentials than agricultural ones. Certain development opportunities might be provided by the regionalisation and decentralization taking place in the EU member states since the 1980s, as well as by reforms of common structural policy, with their focus on strengthening the role of regions in the European economy. The purpose of the paper is to analyse the financial aspects of the process and to address the question whether Polish regions possess adequate financial potential to actively engage in regional development. The author identifies the most important endogenous and exogenous sources of regional development funding, with particular attention to European Union resources.
This paper explores some conceptual issues of the regional innovations, which are the essential topics in innovation policy assessment. After review of the theoretical approaches to the innovations and regional development, it turns to empirical evidence on regional disparities in wealth and innovativeness in the EU-member countries. It further analyses the approaches to the regional policies aimed at fostering innovation in private sector and considers the potential data sources for a policy evaluation.
The development of clusters is part of the process of deindustrialisation of the economy. However, there is a scarcity of guidelines for future management aimed at the creation of new efficient structures of this type. In other words, a lack of clear policies of cluster development can be observed in most countries and regions. This is partly justifiable, as the development of enterprises, and the establishment of cooperation between firms, is largely dependent on the specific economic, social and legal conditions of individual countries, and these can vary widely from one state to another. The author attempts to analyse the cluster development policy carried out in Podlaskie Voivodeship, which is among Europe’s most challenged regions. The analysis is based on the guidelines for cluster development proposed by S.A. Rosenfeld.
In recent years the largest and most important manufacturing sector in Slovak Republic has been the transport equipment industry. Its share is expected to grow in the next years too above all due to an expanding automotive industry as well. This industrial branch has been the engine of positive changes and has contributed to improved performance of supplier branches as well. At the same time there are several risks resulting from this excessive dependency of Slovak economy from one dominating sector. The main objective of the submitted article, is to provide an analysis of the development of Slovak automotive industry during recent years.
The transformation of the economies of the Central and Eastern European states was on the regional level very significantly connected with the differential tendencies. In all new EU member states there has been from the beginning of the 90s to date a continuous deepening of the regional disparities on the economic level. The regional disparities result from a number of the economic, social and geographical factors. This article is a contribution to the studies of regional differentiation in the new EU member states. The goal of this study is to clear up the actual trends and major factors of regional growth and differentiation of the new EU member states.
The aim of the analysis presented in the article is to specify the most important factors influencing the development of the EU regional policy. Main macro-economic and institutional determinants having influence on the effectiveness of this policy reducing regional disparities within the EU were examined. It is in the interest of Poland, the country which is characteristic of much lower level of economic development than most other member states, to use all the existing mechanisms to reduce that gap. But effective implementation of regional policy requires a provision of adequate finance. It means proper use of home as well as foreign resources, especially those coming in from the EU budget.
This article explores economic and financial instruments for sustainable regional development. The article shows the value of economic and financial instruments in shaping strategies for sustainable regional development and environmental policies. It defines sustainable development indicators used globally and in the European Union. The article suggests sustainable development indicators for Ukraine. Approaches to financing sustainable development strategies in Ukraine are shown. It tackles the necessity of applying the best practices of the European Union in the formation of economic instruments system for Ukraine’s environmental policy within the framework of Association with the EU regarding sustainable development. It would contribute to solving complex regional environmental and economic problems.
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