R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and ChangesReturn

This paper evaluated the potential for brownfield regeneration in the Czech Republic using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) framework. A set of ten quantitative and qualitative criteria was established, including ownership structure, previous land use, site area, and accessibility to key infrastructure. Each criterion was first normalized. Then, weights were assigned based on its relevance to regeneration. MCDA scores were calculated for all NUTS 3 regions. This enabled a comparison of their redevelopment readiness. The Ústí nad Labem Region achieved the highest score, followed by the Moravian-Silesian and Liberec Regions, primarily due to a combination of public ownership, high brownfield density, and transport accessibility. Pearson correlation coefficients confirmed the dominant role of site count, former land use, and public ownership in influencing regeneration potential. Conversely, overall infrastructure distance had a weaker correlation with readiness. The results provide a data-driven and transferable framework to support regional planning and brownfield policy development.

The convergence of economic level across regions is nowadays discussed especially in association with the efficiency of the EU Cohesion policy. This is the reason why many researchers investigate economic convergence only in a short term, during the last few decades. It is also caused by the lack of historical statistical data for regional levels. We solved this problem atypically by using reconstructed historical regional data that allow us to investigate the convergence in a long term. In this paper, we focus on Beta-convergence of Italian regions using real per capita GDP. The time series consists of reconstructed historical regional data for the period 1891–2009 and regional data from ISTAT for the period 1995–2016. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the process of Beta-convergence across Italian regions in the period 1891–2016 through spatial econometric analysis considering different political background. We used cross-sectional analysis which was extended by the spatial lag model through spatial weights matrix. The whole period was divided into shorter time spans according to the important milestones in the Italian history. We found out that there were times of regional convergence, divergence and stagnation. There are two most remarkable periods: the divergence era which started at the beginning of WWI and continued through interwar period until the end of WWII and the convergence era during miracolo economico italiano in the 1950s and 1960s.

There are many tools to measure and compare the innovation potential and the innovation performance. Each of these instruments uses more or less similar indicators. This article identifies the indicators related to the research, development and innovation, which are available at regional level NUTS3 (14 regions) in the Czech Republic. These indicators are analysed with respect to their development in the period 2001-2014. Via a coefficient calculated they are subsequently combined into one aggregate indicator characterizing the innovation potential of each region. This merger was made both for the beginning and the end of the reporting period to be able to compare the development of innovation potential of Czech regions. Absolutely the best results were achieved in Prague followed by the South Moravian Region and the worst are found in the Karlovy Vary Region in the long term. However, through a calculated coefficient it was found that there is stabilization in the development of regional differences of innovation potential of Czech regions. In the last part, the article outlines options for further follow-up research.

The paper evaluates the level of economic, social and territorial disparities in 6 selected EU Member States and 83 NUTS 2 regions in case of Visegrad Four, Austria and Germany during reference period 2000-2010. The evaluation analysis is based on selected mathematical and statistical methods that lead to construction of simple (non-weighted) synthetic indices of economic, social and territorial disparities and weighted synthetic aggregate index of disparities. The theoretical part of the paper defines the concept of disparities and cohesion in the EU and methodological background of convenient statistical methods for regional disparities evaluation. The empirical part of the paper deals with the measurement, evaluation and comparison of disparities rates in all the selected EU countries and NUTS 2 regions through computed values of synthetic sub-indices of economic, social and territorial disparities and weighted (aggregate) synthetic index of disparities. All the synthetic indices are calculated on the basis of Z-score standardized variables using Euclidean distance method.

The paper presents a comparative analysis of living situation in the Czech Republic and in Western Europe at the beginning and at the end of the decade 2000 - 2010. The primary thesis was the convergence of living situation during the analyzed period. The evaluation criteria were consumption expenditures of households. The aim was to obtain the base for related economic analyses and background for creating business or marketing strategies. The method used was cluster analysis supplemented by basic descriptive statistics. Classification system for evaluation expenditure structures was the standard "Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose" designed by the UN Statistical Division. Comparability of absolute values of expenditures was ensured by conversions to the Purchasing Power Standard. As a result the convergence of absolute amounts and relative structures of consumer expenditures was identified. As to structures of consumption expenditures the Czech Republic stood out the set of analyzed countries. This was probably due to non-economic factors dealt by the theory of cultural affinity zones. The conclusion is confirmation of the thesis on living situation convergence, i. e. improving living conditions of Czech households in relation to Western European households between years 2000 and 2010. The evaluation, however, applies only to the sum of consumption expenditures. In terms of selected expenditure groups the situation of Czech households got worse during the examined period. According to the results the real improvement of living conditions also lagged behind the growth of the market value of final domestic product, while GDP is often being presented (especially by media) as an indicator of life situation.

National Development Plan of the Czech Republic is the basic strategic document related with drawing on financial support from the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund of the European Union for the given programming period. In case of the Czech Republic, two such documents have been drafted: one for the incomplete programming period of 2004-2006 and the other for full programming period of 2007-2013.This paper deals with the comparison of individual parts of both National Development Plans. The paper follows the binding structure of National Development Plans and describes, in logical order, current development of the Czech Republic, SWOT analysis, selected goals and strategies, focus of priority axes and operational programmes (omitting areas that deal with the management and monitoring of financial help and financial frameworks).The paper focus on individual development tendencies that can be discovered in these strategic documents and creates a specific view that shows the existing development of the National Development Plans and exposes certain factors that may be used in the development of the next National Development Plan.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the regional problems of the Kingdom of Sweden at the beginning of the 21st century and to confront these findings with the regional policy of the Czech Republic. In the introduction the basic issues of Swedish regional development will be presented. In the text the tax issues will also be outlined, i.e. the system of taxes redistribution to the regional and local authorities in our republic and in Sweden. In the text a case study of regional association of "Western Sweden" follows (West Sweden the EU Project Analysis Service - WEPA). This association has established in Brussels its permanent representation and it promotes here the interests of individual cities and regions - for now only of mentioned "Western Sweden", which is not a municipal Swedish region, just the association composed of three Swedish regions (Halland, Värmland and Västra Götaland) and 71 cities. In the paper current practice and principles are documented, and the question remains: Is it possible to use this model of "Western Sweden" also in the Czech Republic? This article was created within the research project "Innovation Approach to Analysis of Disparities on Regional Level", realized under the state subsidy of The Ministry for Regional Development WD-30-07-1 at the Faculty of Economics, Technical University of Liberec, the Czech Republic.

One of the most important attributes of a competitive economy is the ability to innovate. This ability depends not only on technological progress and capital, but also on the environment in which innovation is implemented. Activities leading to innovations are costly and very risky. Companies are therefore looking for a stable environment. A stable environment can provide quality institutions, which include: the conditions for starting a business (so-called start-up), clear and transparent rules when dealing with public administration, investor protection, tax burden, low corruption, competence of public administration and its integrity, the same access to information, etc. Comparison of selected indices and their analysis shows that the trends in these indices have an impact on the innovation performance of countries. The last part will compare these selected indexes and scores together, show the results for EU 27, analyze them and confirm or refuse the relationships between these variables.

In recent years gaining in importance and popularity of tourism with tasting of traditional products and culinary specialties of farmers in certified restaurants. Article discusses the issue of regional cuisine in the Czech Republic and the related tourism in order to know the regional gastronomy. It is based on a questionnaire survey among residents of tourist regions and deals with the analysis of tourists satisfied with local gastronomy products and services in certified restaurants and also evaluation of traffic in tourist destinations. The aim of this paper was to highlight the potential use of traditional gastronomic tourism regions in tourism.

The article gives a brief analysis of medium-term planning process of development of social services in municipalities and regions in the Czech Republic in relation to the possibilities of presentation of company philanthropy and commitment to the company in sense of socially responsible organization. The article presents terminology that connects both, the issue of social services planning, as well as the issue of corporate social responsibility. The aim of this paper was to point out the obvious and still not too much used option of interconnection and partnership of social services and private companies in connection to the current trend of implementation of corporate social responsibility.

The paper examines and analyzes the process of real convergence in the Visegrad countries at regional level NUTS 2. Theoretical background of the paper defines the methodological concept and definition of convergence, focusing on the concept of beta convergence, which is the case of unconditional (absolute) convergence. This approach is based on the neoclassical growth model. The empirical part of the article focuses on the analysis of beta convergence in NUTS 2 regions of the Visegrad Four countries in the reference period 1995 - 2006. Beta convergence is analyzed by nonlinear regression econometric model, which is formulated in two variations based on the mathematical concept of deterministic convergence. To estimate both models, indicator of gross domestic product per capita in constant prices was used.