R12 - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic ActivityNávrat zpět

This paper aims to shed some light on the real convergence process among EU economies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in comparison to the real convergence in 2008, when the last financial crisis erupted. According to entropy method results, the most pronounced difference between effects of the current pandemic and the global financial crisis are registered in the unemployment rate, while the difference in the current account balance and GDP per capita are much less noticeable. The results of the entropy method also suggest that the greatest difference among EU economies in 2020 is registered in the current account deficits; a slightly lower difference is registered in the unemployment rate, while the divergence in GDP is much less pronounced. To explain the results of the entropy method, a hierarchical cluster analysis is performed and three clusters are derived. Based on the identified characteristics of the derived clusters, some policy recommendations for overcoming the current crisis are defined.

How well can a society and an economy face up to COVID-19 depends, among other factors, on how many jobs can be performed at home. Work from home has the potential to increase firms' productivity and quality of workers' lives regardless of COVID-19, but it can also create new challenges. In this paper, we estimate the share of Czech workers who could work from home, using detailed Czech labour force survey data and an internationally recognised occupational classification methodology. Overall, we apply in the Czech context a methodology developed by Dingel and Neiman and published by the Journal of Public Economics in 2020. Our results show that about one third of Czech workers can perform their jobs from home. This share is comparable with countries at similar per capita income levels and with the share of workers who worked from home in Czechia during COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. The ability to work from home is distributed unequally across sectors, regions and workers' education levels. Whereas around four fifths of workers in the financial or the information technology sectors can work from home, less than one in five workers in agriculture and culture can work from home. Most university-educated workers can work from home, but only one in ten workers with primary education can do so. About a half of the workers in Prague can work from home, while only about a quarter can do so in the rest of the Czech Republic.

This paper explores the role of spatial effects in the innovation processes across 245 NUTS-2 European Union (EU) regions for the period 2008-2012. The goal of the paper is to verify two hypotheses. The first one deals with spatial autocorrelation, i.e., our assumption is that the regional innovation process is not a spatially isolated process but is determined by innovation activities in neighbouring regions as well. Secondly, we assume non-homogeneous responses of innovation output to changes in innovation inputs across groups of regions, i.e., a spatial heterogeneity hypothesis. Patent applications were chosen as a proxy for innovative activity and we considered research and development expenditures and human resources in science and technology as innovation inputs. In order to model the behaviour of innovative activity at the EU regional level, we constructed and estimated a spatial regional knowledge production function model and spatial regime models. The results of the analysis confirm the hypothesis that the regional innovation process is not a spatially isolated process but is also influenced by innovation activities in neighbouring regions, and we have also identified two spatial innovation regimes.

Considering the differences between public and non-public beneficiaries, the main aim of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between the disadvantage of Czech regions and the spatial distribution of EU structural funds in the programming period 2007–2013. The empirical results reveal negative and significant influence of socioeconomic disadvantage of regions on the amount of structural funds obtained by public beneficiaries. On the contrary, agglomeration economies are the statistically significant determinant of the amount of structural funds obtained by non-public beneficiaries. These conclusions are related to different absorption capacity of regions, regarding the number and size of projects. Overall, structural funds do not compensate for the disadvantage of regions, neither for public nor for non-public beneficiaries.

The paper explores the impact of agglomeration economies on employment growth in the creative industries in Slovakia between 1998 and 2014. Using a spatial econometric model it has been confirmed that related variety plays a significant role in employment growth in creative industries, while significance of unrelated variety has not been confirmed. In other words, the districts specialising in different, but at the same time cognitively and technologically related creative sectors, have achieved higher employment growth in comparison to those specialising either in one selected creative sector, or in unrelated sectors. Moreover, the results indicate that knowledge spillover effect in creative industries is configured more locally what emphasizes the importance of a local level in the process of knowledge creation and its spillover.

Deepening income polarization is perceived as one of economic and social threats of the global world. The aim of this paper is to present development and the current status of incomes in the Slovak Republic, which is the crucial limitation of the present and future consumption growth. The authors further focus on the income levels of elderly, which are perceived as an important group of consumers within the concept of the silver economy. Analyses in the paper are based on microdata from the Social Insurance Agency in Slovakia. According to the results the income polarization in Slovakia is deepening and economic performance of a number of districts is lowering. This results in extreme barriers for regional consumption at present, as well as threat of generation of signifi cantly low level of pensions in the future. It is obvious that structural nature of unemployment is the fundamental problem of income polarization in the Slovak Republic.

This study is devoted to explore the role and impact size of human capital for economic growth. We discern two levels of human capital impacts: First, we point to its contribution to knowledge capital production and second, the multiplicative effects of human capital in the aggregate production function are suggested. We employ lately developed methodology for spatial panel estimations with two-way fi xed effects. Our results show that throughout the EU NUTS-2 regions over the 2000s human capital spillovers, indeed, account for large total factor productivity variation. Moreover, our results suggest that local effects of human capital are secondary to these human capital spillovers in terms of magnitude and, what might be more compelling, that the multiplicative effects of human capital surmount its impacts attributable to knowledge production.

This paper deals with allocation of financial resources from selected operational programmes among Czech regions and assess whether a regional innovation paradox occurs in the Czech Republic. Regional innovation paradox expresses a state when some regions with lower innovation performance and higher investment needs exist but at the same time these regions are not able to gain the offered resources. The article examines the relationship between amount of obtained resources and selected characteristics of regions through correlation analysis. The attention is focused on Operational programme Enterprise and Innovations and Operational programme Research and Development for Innovations. The analysis confirmed the existence of the regional innovation paradox in the Czech Republic. The paradox is apparent especially if the amount of subsidies is compared to the total regional gross domestic product. The paradox is in higher degree apparent at OP Research and Development for Innovations than OP Enterprise and Innovations.

This paper deals with the spatial relationship between national and European regional policies. Spatial coherence of these two types of policies in two CEE countries - in the Czech Republic and Slovakia - is discussed. Our findings point at a higher spatial coherence of national and European regional policy in Slovakia. Thus, there is a higher financial allocation per 1 inhabitant in the nationally delimitated areas of special interest in Slovakia compared with the Czech Republic. Three aspects are discussed in this regard. First, different strategies of the delimitation of the areas of special interest in the both countries are emphasised. Second, different strategies of the implementation of the areas of special interest in programming documents in the both countries are upheld. Third, the factor of territorial absorption capacity is mentioned. We claim that the three aspects should be considered in achieving a higher spatial coherence of national and European regional policies.

This article is a contribution to the discussion of national competitiveness as a concept for analysis of international economic relations. The main goal is the critical reflection of the concept. We consider the Paul Krugman's and Richard Baldwin's remarks regarding the problems associated with using competitiveness as an analytical concept still valid when restrained to the domain of neoclassical economics. Moreover - even though the competitiveness is widely accepted as an analytical concept - we believe a number of problems associated with its current use exist (both in theory and in process of policy formations). Mainly, there is confusion between the micro and macro-economic understanding of concept which stems from confusion between individual and national/territorial level of analysis. We also believe that even if new trade theory (increasing returns and strategic trade) is taken into account, it is quite problematic to formulate policy recommendation for structural and industrial policy on its grounds. When the assumptions of neoclassical economics are loosened, the concept of competitiveness might prove valid. Finally we stress than even if this is the case the sensitiveness of the most of recommendations for competitiveness promotion to retaliation and potential damage resulting to international economic regime from its enforcement is rather high.

This paper deals with the relationship between regional disparities and financing of regional policy. The Czech Republic and the Convergence goal of cohesion policy were chosen as a case study. Four themes are discussed in this regard. First, the spatial distribution of funds is analyzed with respect to the disparity goal of regional policy. Second, the coherence of regional policy on different regional levels is evaluated. Third, the differences in evaluations based on the seat of applicants on one hand and place of realization on the other are discussed. Finally, some thematic issues are considered. Our findings point at some ambivalent conclusions with respect to both, the disparity goal and the coherence of regional policy on different regional levels. In addition, the differences in the both forms of evaluations are emphasized.

The article presents information about the new integration theory of sustainable regional development. It is an empirically verified theory; its main components are the business environment quality (BEQ), the innovation potential of companies (IPC), and the use of human resources (UHR). Its foundations can be expressed as follows: an improvement of regional quality of business environment stimulates the development of entrepreneurial activities with positive impacts on employment rate and creation of innovations; thus generated synergic effects reinforce the territorial integration of economy and regional competitiveness, which form the basic prerequisites for sustainable regional development. The objective validity of the theory has been confirmed mainly based on hypotheses that BEQ values have strong links to GDP level and further and correspond with the population of regions as the essential measure of their significance. Application of theory allowed formulating a regional development strategy of the Czech Republic.

The paper provides an exploratory analysis of regional dynamics among 264 NUTS2 EU-27 regions over the period 1992-2006. Seven different regional indicators are analyzed including wages, household expenditures, retail sales, investments, productivity, GDP, and GDP adjusted for international purchasing power differences. Several aspects of regional dynamics are studied such as convergence, polarization, role of international component, overall mobility, and individual mobility of Czech regions. Different methods are employed including some traditional techniques such as Gini coefficient, Theil decomposition, or kernel density estimates but also more innovative measures based on the pair-wise comparisons of regions. The results suggest strong regional convergence in relative ratios hand in hand with increasing absolute gaps among European regions. The analysis also indicates a significant bipolarity in the investigated distributions and a major role of international component in the process of European regional development. From the Czech regions, only Praha and Střední Čechy recorded some upward mobility in the European regional rank distributions, while the relative positions of all other units deteriorated.