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REGION COMPETITIVENESS – it is the ability of the region to guarantee the social and economic surrounding, which is supporting business activity and the process of raising productiveness and innovation level by utilization of internal and external human, financial and material resources, which are measured in comparison to other regions. The R.C. is also defined as the set of features, which decide about the attractiveness of the region in the perspective of investments’ placement or as a place to live and also as an expression of technological advantage or lower prices of products and services, which are produced in the region in comparison to other regions. The R.C. is shaped by the mutual influence on relations between actors of the regional economy, when entrepreneurs are competing to achieve the best investments’ placement, while regions are competing to achieve capital inflow. The R.C. has two basic dimensions: 1. Direct competition, which is understood as competition of empowered territorial units, which are competing for various types of benefits; 2. Indirect competition, it is defined as the existence or the creation of conditions of regional surrounding for economic actors, which enable achieving competitive advantage in the elements, which are out of the control of their operation. The growth of region competitiveness is the lifeblood for regional development. It is assumed that the R.C. is the mean (tool) to achieve the social goal of the development, which is the growth of regional income and prosperity. The measure of growth competitive ability is not only the improvement of competitive position, but it is also the ability of regional economy to maintain the long-term profitable development, which effect is the structure of the economy adapting to the long-term changes in the structure of global demand. Competitive region is the region, in which the level of human knowledge (knowledge is understood in the competitive region as the ability to overtake needs and to discover the new combination of application of current and new material resources), which enables to create structural supremacy and commercialization of region’s products. It is the space, in which emerges relations between production factors (ground, capital, work and knowledge), which are used to improve life standards, attract new investors and support multifunctional region’s development. Competitiveness factors are the strategic resources and values of the region, which enable to distinguish these abilities and opportunities, which could ensure stable competitive place in the market of offered products and services. They include: the condition of development and equipment of technical and social infrastructure; presence of scientific and research institutions and higher education in the region; availability of highly qualified employees; well-developed business surrounding (attendance of banks and consulting companies); ecological conditions; landscape values; opportunities of tourism and recreation; reserves of territories suitable for the new investments’ placement; approachability of ground prices and the level of rent; diversity of economic structure; transport accessibility; existence of agglomeration or big urban centers in the region; the quality of management of region’s development; the ability to absorb aid funds; the level of self-organization of the society including non-governmental organizations activity, innovative-organizational potential and effectiveness of small and medium entrepreneurs (→ regional policy; regional development) [M. Balcerek-Kosiarz]

Literature: M. Balcerek-Kosiarz, Rola samorządu w sferze podnoszenia konkurencyjności regionów w Polsce i Niemczech, Warszawa 2018 ■ P. Góralski, M. Lazarek, Czynniki kształtujące konkurencyjność regionów, „Zeszyty Naukowe SGGW. Polityki Europejskie, Finanse i Marketing” 2009, nr 1(50) ■ B. Winiarski, Konkurencyjność regionów – polityka regionalna – uwarunkowania makroekonomiczne, [w:] Problemy transformacji struktur regionalnych i konkurencyjność regionów w procesie integracji europejskiej, red. A. Klasik, Z. Zioło, Rzeszów 2002.