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The aim of this study was to assess urban policies from the point of view of their impact on energy efficiency as a factor enhancing local competitiveness in Poland. To achieve this objective, we carried out an original study. The first step was to conduct a literature review. Next, an attempt was made to present the prevailing state of knowledge regarding the management of the competitiveness of cities and regions, as well as the functioning of energy efficiency in the economy. The development strategies of 18 selected cities serving as provincial capitals or playing other administrative roles at the regional level were also analysed. Importantly, the impact envisaged for municipal authorities to improve energy efficiency largely focuses on investments in the modernisation of public transport infrastructure and renewable energy sources. These investments certainly yield substantial cost savings, which are presented in the article. Nevertheless, it is essential to bear in mind that these are not the sole advantages of increased energy efficiency of local socio-economic systems. The investments also have the potential to enhance the perception of cities, increase the value of municipal real estate, and improve the health of urban residents by reducing emissions into the atmosphere. Still, a clearly discernible link between these arguments and a positive impact of cities' energy savings on their competitive standing and competitive edge is absent from the analysed city development strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of the investment shock to the fuel and energy sectors of the Far East within the framework of the Eastern vector of Russia’s energy policy. We systemize the basic investment projects implemented in these sectors in order to increase export supplies of fuel and energy resources to the Asia-Pacific countries and assess the shifts in the structure of fuel and energy resources production in the region over the period from 2012 to 2019. In calculations, we use the classical and spatial versions of the method of structural decomposition of the growth rates of the sectoral indicators (shift-share analysis). On the basis of structural decomposition of the changes on the average annual number of employees and the GVA of the fuel and energy complex of the Far East at different spatial levels (national, macroregional (interregional) and regional) we draw the following conclusions: a strong impulse for development in the framework of the Eastern vector of Russia’s energy policy was given to extractive industries, their competitive effects were positive and overrode the negative shocks, which were destabilizing the national economy; an important factor in the economic dynamics of the extractive industries of the fuel and energy complex were gains/losses in inter-regional competition, but not spatial externalities; in the oil and gas industry, unlike in the coal industry, there is potential for formation of spatial externalities; developing faster than others, extractive industries remain enclaves in regional economies

The aim of this paper is to investigate the growth dynamics of 20 larger Croatian cities, macro-regional and regional centres, in order to indicate changes in their competitiveness. The analyses were carried out for three relevant periods: the period of growth before the global recession (2001-2008), the period of the global recession (2009-2014) and the recovery period of the Croatian economy (2015-2019). Employment is one of the most important indicators of economic growth, so employment dynamics data were used in the analyses. The paper points to differences in employment growth of individual Croatian cities compared to the national average and seeks to determine whether this growth is the result of the action of structural (exogenous) factors or local (endogenous) factors. Therefore, a shift-share analysis was carried out, resulting in calculations of the regional, structural, and local factors. It found that in the years before the recession, larger cities had on average much stronger employment growth than the Croatian average. In the pre-recession period, the local factor played an extremely important role in shaping employment growth; in most cities, it was more significant than the structural factor. When the recession hit, larger cities saw a drop in employment of about the same intensity as at the state level, while in the post-recession period they had a slightly slower recovery compared to the Croatian average. In the recession period, there was a sharp decline in the local competitiveness of cities, whose significant recovery in the post-recession period has so far been absent. The number of cities that are above the national average in terms of employment dynamics was decreasing. Above-average growth was achieved during all three relevant periods only Split, Zadar, Dubrovnik, and Varaždin. In all three periods, Split, Zadar, Slavonski Brod, and Varaždin had local competitive advantages.

This article synthesizes the evidence on food value chains (FVCs) and regional food hubs (RFHs) through a systematic literature review and suggests future research directions based on the gaps identified in the review. The number of publications on FVCs and RFHs is increasing, indicating that these topics are gaining interest among scholars from different countries and disciplines. Bibliometric analysis and preferred reporting items for systematic review and a meta-analysis (PRISMA) flow chart are used to identify the data from Scopus. The results show that FVCs are an innovative solution to improve the skills and capacity of smallholder farmers through collaborative networks that can match the functions of RFHs. RFHs connect local producers and customers by operating a business based on social entrepreneurship and ecological approaches to increase local economic viability and the sustainability of agriculture products. FVCs and RFHs are designed to respond to supply chain insecurity with value-based approaches in order to achieve sustainable nutrition for the local community. Further research on FVCs and RFHs emphasizes that the business model of regional development in developing countries can improve food security sustainability based on social entrepreneurship, and emphasizes the environmental aspect that it can use to support the sustainability of developing countries local food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses two methods to measure the concept of local competitiveness: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The goal of this analysis is to determine whether these two methods used in social sciences research lead to comparable model results. By non-parametric tests we show that there is a significant correlation between the PCA and AHP local competitiveness indexes. Thereafter, a developed mixed method examination of whether the methods can be used interchangeably is presented and illustrated with detailed examples of two mixed approaches. The mixed method confirms the correlation between the PCA and AHP models. However, the mixed modelling results indicate the utility of the PCA in the situation of a multicriteria local competitiveness data examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Geoadria is the property of Geoadria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article studies differences in regional economic growth models, for the identification of which the shift-share method of structural decomposition of growth rates is used. This method makes it possible to explain the deviation (shift) of the regional growth rate from the expected one, assuming an identical sectoral structure in all regions. The shift is decomposed into industry-mix (compositional) and regional (competitive) components in accordance with the classical formulation of the method. The spatial approach divides the regional shift into components determined by the effects of potential spatial spillover and local competitiveness. As economic activity indicators, gross value added and the average annual number of employed in the economy by type of economic activity in the context of federal subjects are used. The analysis was performed in a dynamic setting for 2004–2019. The results showed a decisive contribution of the effect of own competitiveness to differentiation of regions in terms of growth rates. This effect arises from differences in productivity of the same industry in different regions and is measured by the regional shift. The spatial decomposition of regional growth rates made it possible to separate the contribution of own competitiveness from the local competitiveness of the region. The influence of the first factor proved predominant. The regional (competitive) shift in most regions, regardless of its sign, was formed due to the local competitive effect, not to realization of the potential of spatial spillover of growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This dataset corresponds with the manuscript “The impact of geothermal resources on the competitiveness of municipalities: evidence from Poland” [1]. In the paper, the geothermal resources are assumed as a local competitive advantage for the municipalities that exploit them. In order to examine the relation between the exploitation of the geothermal resources and local competitiveness we determine the model of municipality competitiveness in Poland. Concept of local competitiveness is referred to place-based measures (Lovering [2], Mytelka and Farinelli [3], Plummer and Taylor [4], Kitson et al. [5]) and it is related to the management of local resources (Malecki [6], Turok [7]). Literature review suggests that the local competitiveness is best reflected in the indicators of economic welfare and sustainability (see Meyer-Stamer [8], Audretsch et al. [9]). Therefore, we use an expert method to build the model of a municipality competitiveness indicators on the example of Poland. Throughout the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method engaged experts select the 24 indicators of local competitiveness. This method serves in situations of problem complexity (Kamenetzky [10], Saaty [11]) and as a multicriteria method in regional studies (Dinc et al. [12]). Aggregation of the AHP selected indicators yields a synthetic competitiveness index for each of the municipalities that we examine. This index constitutes the model dependent variable in the related research article. This procedure of building municipality competitiveness model sets an example of approaching a complex phenomenon such as local competitiveness definition. The versatility of this method enables its application into related research cases.

Copyright of Revista Espacios is the property of Talleres de Impresos Oma and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To promote private-sector growth, many countries have implemented reforms aimed at making it easier and less costly to do business. Using data from Philippine cities and municipalities from 2011 to 2015, this paper tested for the relationship between business creation and the ease and cost of doing business. The results provide evidence that the overall ease and cost of doing business is indeed associated with business creation, but the relationship becomes more apparent with disaggregation. In particular, lower cost of doing business is found to be a much stronger predictor of business creation than ease of doing business. The specific indicators that drive this relationship are minimum wage, price of electricity, price of water, and price of land from the "cost" dimension, and number of days to process a new business permit from the "ease" dimension. These relationships have implications on policy making, especially in designing programs that target firm creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By reviewing long-term dynamics of urban expansion in a representative southern European city, this study proposes a long-term interpretation of Mediterranean urbanization as a result of a structural socioeconomic 'crisis' related to ineffective local governance, weak regional planning and peculiar demographic structures. Athens' expansion exemplifies the difficult transition of many southern European cities into a new and more convoluted urban arrangement depending on the intimate relationship between urban structure, urban planning, social attributes, cultural aspects and economic factors. The article concludes with a discussion on future development paths of the Mediterranean cities, identifying informality, non-linearity and unpredictability of expansion path as important traits for reconversion of 'crisis' cities towards more sustainable and competitive growth models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article intends to disseminate the partial results of a work that lasted more than three years and involved a substantial number of resources at both national and international level within the COHESION Project, implemented under the C.I.P. Interreg IIIB CADSES Neighbourhood Program. The Vrancea vineyard was the pilot area for the Romanian study and the main activities of the Romanian team (Urbanproiect Bucuresti, Partner Project no.13) within the project has been focused on this area.The COHESION (Integrated COncepts EnHancing CohESion of EurOpeaN Space) Project aimed at enforcing the cohesion of the CADSES area, through developing policies to meet the problems of the European rural space. To this context, the project developed during 2003-2005 applied a methodology focused on increasing competitiveness of areas. An indicative product (wine), in which the involved areas provide a comparative advantage, has been targeted and integrated development pilot projects have been implemented in the participating areas. The Project's area of intervention consisted in the territories of Karditsa, Achaia and Nemea in Greece, the territory of Steirisches Vulkanland in Austria, Meissen in Germany, Appennino Reggiano in Italy, Northwest Bohemia in Czech Republic, and Vrancea in Romania.The aim of the project was “to investigate the development process in remote agricultural areas from practical point of view, i.e. locate the factors that hamper or promote local development in the remote agricultural zones of the CADSES area, and provide this information to other local development actors, so as to facilitate their action and thus contribute to accelerating convergence of the space in question and cohesion of the European territory” (PINDOS Strategic Planning Centre, 2006). The approach planned and applied by COHESION was the bottom up approach. Parallel and similar development projects (pilot activities) were generated in a number of the areas involved and the experience acquired by the project partners was compared and examined. A synthesis of the particular experience in the form of recommendations and hints to potential local development actors was elaborated under a final manual, a methodological guide for local development actors, so as to help people involved in the development practice to avoid mistakes and better plan their actions and thus become more efficient in their mission.

Copyright of Análise is the property of EDIPUCRS - Editora Universitaria da PUCRS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to show that the renewed impulse to the production of cut flowers in the Mexico State has modeled a new type of external economy which characterizes the fortification of the relations with the international market, the artificial improvement of the time's economy in the places of the production, as well as the systematization of the flower offer and the commercialization process. The factors of the new economic model have changed towards the outside, but on the inside of the production areas, the advantage of the basic resources favors technological change and the interests from some companies that have increased their individual and corporative productivity in the national and international market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indicators of local productive sectors must be recognized In order to achieve greater levels of local competitiveness. This article concentrates on an analysis and evaluation of indicators of activity in productive sectors which are best adapted to the specific interests of local competitiveness: (i) production accounts, (ii) input-output matrix, (iii) foreign trade in local productive sectors, and (iv) spatial flows of production factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the prospects for import substitution in West Africa. We use market surveys, choice experiments, and experimental auctions with 1322 consumers to assess price and quality competitiveness of locally produced chicken, rice, and tilapia in Accra, Ghana. Our findings suggest that among the three products, rice has the lowest prospects for import substitution, due to supply- and demand-side constraints to local competitiveness. For rice, consumers prefer imported products, they perceive imports as having better quality than local products, and they are willing to pay a premium for imports. For chicken, consumers have a strong preference for local products, but the potential for expanding chicken production can only be met if production and processing costs can be reduced significantly to boost price competitiveness. For tilapia, a high preference for freshness provides a natural barrier to import entry, and the comparative advantage of local production can be enhanced further. The findings imply that import substitution policies would be more successful if focused on production cost reductions. Although local producers face steep price competition from imports, consumer preferences for non-price attributes of local products offer an opportunity for demand-side policies to increase quality competitiveness. • We examine price and quality competitiveness of local food products in Ghana. • Local rice cannot compete against imports in terms of price and quality. • Consumers prefer local chicken attributes, but production costs are too high. • A high preference for tilapia freshness provides a natural barrier to imports. • Efforts to improve competitiveness should focus on improving non-price attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]