Determinants of development of entrepreneurship and innovation in local areas of economic activity: a case study analysis
Determinants of development of entrepreneurship and innovation in local areas of economic activity: a case study analysis

Summary/Abstract: The study focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the determinants of entrepreneurship and innovation development in the local special economic zones. The potential of these areas is growing and has the following features: internal cooperation within the zone aimed at a network model, as well as external cooperation with local entities, thus altering the model of management of the territorial self-government. Among many other specific zones, the particularity of the Wieliczka Special Economic Zone is worthy of special attention due to its economic uniqueness. The town of Wieliczka is a specific region due to its successful restructuring from an industrial area into a service area. The Wieliczka Salt Mine, known as an absolute phenomenon in terms of its close location to Krakow, with strong air pollution – one of the highest levels worldwide - and at the same time offering a range of services including health services focusing on combating health issues caused by air pollution, is of special interest. The focus on this specific region is not merely due to the aforementioned situation but also due to the fact that research conducted in the Wieliczka Special Economic Zone indicates that external cooperation in the local special economic zone lags behind in social activities, such as culture, education and tourism. Simultaneously, enterprises located in the zone are insufficiently oriented towards the development of entrepreneurship and innovation, in spite of the range of instruments of support in existence in this area. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the development of entrepreneurship and innovation in these areas should take account of both the social and the economic aspects. The main research problem is to determine the direction of entrepreneurship and innovation development as important resources determining the competitive advantage of economic activity zones. The study henceforth attempted to contribute to addressing the problem of whether the intensity of the cooperation of entities located in the local special economic zone mobilises companies to develop entrepreneurship and innovations. The research shows that entrepreneurship and innovations inspire the process of shaping the model of economic activity zones.

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