Suchergebnisse

The Author discussed, explored, evaluated and diagnosed the disparities of economic activity on regional level. The study embraced five peripheral regions of Poland, namely five Eastern provinces (voivodships), i.e. Lublin Province, Podlasie Province, Subcarpathia Province, Świętokrzyskie Province and Warmia-Masuria Province. The aforementioned five voivodships were compared to Poland and Poland's central region, i.e. Masovia Province. The following elements were taken into consideration: employment rate and employment by sectors, unemployment rate, GDP per capita, number of economic entities and number of natural persons conducting economic activity, investment outlays and gross expenditure on R&D activity, as well as net internal and external migration for permanent residence. In order to observe the possible changes over the time the situation in 2005 and 2017 was studied. Additionally, the total value of projects co-financed by the European Union through Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund within 2007–2013 period and 2014–2020 perspective was presented and analyzed. The research tools used in the article included literature studies, critical thinking, descriptive analysis and comparative analysis, in that the selected statistical method of multivariate comparative analysis, i.e. Hellwig's taxonomic measure of development. Statistical material provided by Central Statistical Office (Warsaw, Poland) and taken from Statistical Yearbooks of the Regions 2006, 2007, 2017 and 2018 was used for the analysis. The obtained results indicate the persistence of huge regional disparities of economic activity, economic potential and socioeconomic development despite the implementation of EU Policy of Social, Economic and Territorial Cohesion. Hence, it was possible to positively verify the research hypotheses: both the first hypothesis assuming that the gap between the studied peripheral regions and the rest of Poland was not reduced and the second hypothesis assuming that the participation in the processes of regional economic integration, and in particular in EU Policy of Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion, had only limited impact on the reduction of disparities between Poland's regions.KEYWORDS: economic activity, economic potential, development, Poland, peripheral region.JEL CODES: R11, R12, O10, O18DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15181/rfds.v28i2.1947

According to the author, China's midland and west are decades behind its coastal provinces. The decisions of the Fifth Plenary Meeting of the Communist Party of China's (CPC's) Central Committee in September 1995 and then of the Fourth Session of the AU-China Assembly of People's Representatives in March 1996 stressed the need for a gradual elimination of the gap in socio-economic development levels between the coastal provinces, on the one hand, and the western and central areas, on the other. The author scrutinizes this gap and the measures to eliminate it. (DÜI-Sen)

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to make a diagnosis of an economic activity identified as relevant in a local economy, in order to verify if it meets the criteria that characterize an industrial cluster. This paper presents the overall results of research which analyzes the case of the candy and chocolate industries from the point of view of industrial clusters. The research is relevant considering that it presents a methodology for measuring the degree of functionality of a productive activity considered as relevant in a local economy under international operation standards, which is not common in studies of countries in Latin America.
The study seeks to answer the following research questions:
- What is an industrial cluster and what are its characteristics ?
- How to identify and evaluate an economic activity under a focus for industrial cluster?
- What are the competitive strengths and opportunities for local economic activity?
- Is it possible to design a strategy to promote the competitiveness of local economic activity?
The paper consists of the following parts:
- An introduction that presents the general problem context of the research subject is
- Theoretical studies and related research methodology.
Results of the investigation
- Proposition of strategic intervention to improve the functionality of the local cluster studied The case study focuses on San Luis Potosí State, México, and it seeks to demonstrate the need to carry out industrial cluster initiatives as a strategy to promote enterprise development and strengthen economic activities in the manufacture of candies and chocolate, identified as relevant in the local context.

Social and economic activity of the Russian elder generation has a contradictory nature. On the one hand, Russian pensioners often continue working beyond the existing comparatively low retirement age, on the other hand, in terms of involvement in volunteering, political activities, and even in care for children and grandchildren they lag significantly behind the average European level. Explaining it only by the lack of time does not seem plausible, since in many European countries, the employment rates, involvement in unpaid work and caring for other family members are all higher than in Russia. In our study we attempt to identify reasons for lower social and economic activity of older adults in Russia as compared with European countries. We use data of Tomsk regional survey (2015, N=400) for accessing older adults' social activity. Data analysis on Tomsk region suggests that employment (as an activity) and education (as a prerequisite) contribute to higher involvement in social interactions in later life.