Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic

The intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on how the factors of socio-economic disadvantage and absorption capacity influence the spatial distribution of Structural Fund (SF) payments among the Czech Republic’s micro-regions during the 2007–2013 programming period. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration economies, innovation and entrepreneurship are associated with higher SF absorption capacity and higher SF payments, challenging the tendency for socio-economically disadvantaged regions to converge. SF absorption capacity measured especially by the number of project applications submitted for SF financing and by the average SF budget per project application, is a crucial concept in order to understand the relationship between within-country regional disparities and SF interventions

Enterprise support policy and territorial cohesion: The Czech Republic (2007-2013)

The intention of this paper is to evaluate whether the spatial distribution of Structural Funds (SF) for enterprise support interventions follows the relevant territorial cohesion objectives specified in the strategic documents of the Czech Republic in the programming period 2007-2013. The evidence provided suggests mixed results. A relatively high SF allocation to the regions, characterized by strong agglomeration economies and a strong entrepreneurial climate, supports the competitiveness objective, particularly for innovation-oriented interventions. Nevertheless, little support is given to the objective of balanced development because socio-economically disadvantaged regions do not receive a higher SF allocation, in particular traditional industrial regions suffering from industrial decline, high unemployment and with a poor entrepreneurial climate. In this regard, the absorption capacity concept is emphasized as being important for explaining the spatial distribution of SF. © 2017, Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti. All rights reserved.GACR, Grantová Agentura České Republiky; OCIO, Office of Chief Information Officer; UTB, Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve ZlíněCzech Science Foundation [16-22141S

Leaderand rural differentiation: Czech Republic (2007-2013)

The goal of this paper is to reveal the socioeconomic and environmental characteristic differences between supported and unsupported Local Action Groups (LAGs) from the LEADER programme in the Czech Republic in the programming period 2007-2013. Hence, the associations between the LEADER programme and rural differentiation in the Czech Republic are explored. The results of this study point out that highly rural and disadvantaged LAGs were supported significantly more often, while LAGs with strong urban characteristics and growing suburban LAGs were supported significantly less often in the LEADER programme. Two crucial dimensions of rural differentiation in the Czech Republic were tackled by LEADER, namely rural aspects and socioeconomic disadvantages. This study consequently shows that LAGs May be a highly relevant place-based instrument that compensates for urban-rural gradient and socioeconomic disadvantages of rural areas. © 2018 Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno. All right reserved.GACR, Grantová Agentura České Republiky; OCIO, Office of Chief Information Officer; UTB, Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlín

Spatial dimension of Czech enterprise support policy: Where are public expenditures allocated?

The purpose of the present paper is to find whether the spatial distribution of enterprise support policy funds meet the spatial objectives stated in Czech strategic documents related to enterprise support policy. Are more funds allocated in lagging regions, and does enterprise support policy contribute more to the convergence objective, or are more funds allocated in core regions, and does enterprise support policy contribute more to the competitiveness objective? These questions are answered by evaluating the Structural (and Cohesion) Fund (SF) expenditures that were allocated on operations categorised as part of enterprise support policy (2007-2013). The dependent variable relates to 206 regions, and SF expenditures are calculated for every inhabitant of a region. Moreover, two types of SF operation are distinguished: (a) innovationoriented operations; and (b) other enterprise support operations. Three explanatory variables are defined using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and these components are understood as: (1) the social disadvantage of regions; (2) the innovation environment of regions; and (3) the quality of regional entrepreneurial environments. The associations between the dependent and explanatory variables are subsequently evaluated by methods of correlation and regression analysis. The findings provide some evidence for both the convergence and competitiveness objectives. Nevertheless, this evidence is rather limited due to a low spatial concentration of SF allocation, and the compensatory effect between the two thematic types of SF operations. Hence, while the quality of their innovation environment has a positive influence on regional SF allocation regardless of the thematic focus of SF operations, socially disadvantaged regions received more funds for SF operations which are not innovation-oriented. The capacity of potential beneficiaries to prepare and submit many project proposals for SF co-financing is the main reason for high or low SF allocation. © 2018 Jiří Novosák, et al., published by Sciendo.Czech Science Foundation [16-22141S

Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic

The intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on how the factors of socio-economic disadvantage and absorption capacity influence the spatial distribution of Structural Fund (SF) payments among the Czech Republic's micro-regions during the 2007-2013 programming period. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration economies, innovation and entrepreneurship are associated with higher SF absorption capacity and higher SF payments, challenging the tendency for socio-economically disadvantaged regions to converge. SF absorption capacity measured especially by the number of project applications submitted for SF financing and by the average SF budget per project application, is a crucial concept in order to understand the relationship between within-country regional disparities and SF interventions.Czech Science Foundation [16-22141S

Structural funding and disadvantage of regions: Public and non-public beneficiaries

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. © 2019 Vysoka Skola Ekonomicka. All rights reserved

Regional disparities, absorption capacity and Structural Fund payments: A case study of the Czech Republic

The intention of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on how the factors of socio-economic disadvantage and absorption capacity influence the spatial distribution of Structural Fund (SF) payments among the Czech Republic’s micro-regions during the 2007–2013 programming period. The empirical results indicate that agglomeration economies, innovation and entrepreneurship are associated with higher SF absorption capacity and higher SF payments, challenging the tendency for socio-economically disadvantaged regions to converge. SF absorption capacity measured especially by the number of project applications submitted for SF financing and by the average SF budget per project application, is a crucial concept in order to understand the relationship between within-country regional disparities and SF interventions

Absorption capacity of structural funds (2007-2013): Typology of czech microregions

The intent of this paper was to suggest a typology of Czech microregions based on the demand side of their structural funds (SF) absorption capacity in the programming period 2007-2013. Moreover, the demand side of SF absorption capacity of the so called microregions with concentrated state support was evaluated. Concerning the first intent of this paper, seven clusters of microregions were defined, using a new approach based on the following theoretically substantiated variables for operationalizing the demand side of SF absorption capacity - the number of project applications submitted for financing by SF, the amount of SF requested for one project application, and the share of project applications supported by SF. The relevance of these clusters was shown by the associations between their absorption capacity on the demand side and relative SF allocation. Concerning the second intent of this paper, it was shown that the so called microregions with concentrated state support are less likely to have high absorption capacity on the demand side compared with their not supported counterparts

Spatial Dimension of Czech Enterprise Support Policy: Where are Public Expenditures Allocated?

The purpose of the present paper is to find whether the spatial distribution of enterprise support policy funds meet the spatial objectives stated in Czech strategic documents related to enterprise support policy. Are more funds allocated in lagging regions, and does enterprise support policy contribute more to the convergence objective, or are more funds allocated in core regions, and does enterprise support policy contribute more to the competitiveness objective? These questions are answered by evaluating the Structural (and Cohesion) Fund (SF) expenditures that were allocated on operations categorised as part of enterprise support policy (2007-2013). The dependent variable relates to 206 regions, and SF expenditures are calculated for every inhabitant of a region. Moreover, two types of SF operation are distinguished: (a) innovationoriented operations; and (b) other enterprise support operations. Three explanatory variables are defined using Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and these components are understood as: (1) the social disadvantage of regions; (2) the innovation environment of regions; and (3) the quality of regional entrepreneurial environments. The associations between the dependent and explanatory variables are subsequently evaluated by methods of correlation and regression analysis. The findings provide some evidence for both the convergence and competitiveness objectives. Nevertheless, this evidence is rather limited due to a low spatial concentration of SF allocation, and the compensatory effect between the two thematic types of SF operations. Hence, while the quality of their innovation environment has a positive influence on regional SF allocation regardless of the thematic focus of SF operations, socially disadvantaged regions received more funds for SF operations which are not innovation-oriented. The capacity of potential beneficiaries to prepare and submit many project proposals for SF co-financing is the main reason for high or low SF allocation

The geography of new business formation in the Czech Republic: a cross-section analysis (2003-2014)

The intent of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of determinants on new business formation in the Czech Republic’s regions in the period 2003 to 2014. The results suggest that the regions with strong entrepreneurial culture, measured by a high proportion of entrepreneurs in the population, and with a strong presence of foreigners, had higher rates of new business formation. A positive influence of agglomeration economies was observed, and the impact of unemployment was negative. However, the results were not consistent when more advanced legal business forms (especially limited liability and joint-stock companies) had been used in the dependent variable. In this case, human capital was the overriding factor determining regional differences in new business formation rates, while entrepreneurial culture and the presence of foreigners were not significant. Finally, the importance of the industrial structure of regions was confirmed regardless of the dependent variable form