XII BGK Conference

Discussion Panel : Strategic Directions for

Regional Development

1

Emilia Skrok

Jan Gąska

Problem recognition and and objectives of

regional development policy

Regional development can be seen as a general effort to

reduce regional disparities by supporting (employment

and wealth-generating) economic activities in regions.

Regional disparities in well-being:

GDP per capita,

Indicators covering material conditions (income, jobs, housing)

quality of life (health, education, safety, environmental quality,

access to services, and life satisfaction)

shifting from GDP to indicators that focus on people’s outcomes

makes the issue of regional disparities within countries broader

for policy makers

2

Regional disparities in Poland in GDP remains

high though close to OECD average …3

40.940.6

66.168.775.2

38.073.8

60.273.771.067.0

57.275.266.970.571.364.370.368.872.581.481.3

68.569.7

54.865.382.281.488.783.383.2

307.2326.8

244.6210.0

151.0186.8

161.5173.1169.3161.8

150.0165.1156.1158.5153.4

139.9142.7136.2134.8141.5138.7

124.2124.6

103.1112.8129.5

118.6124.1118.5115.4

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

MEXCHLUSASVKCZETUR

CANHUN

BELGBRDEUITA

FRANZLPOLAUSEST

NLDESP

GRCSWEPRTAUTDNKNOR

IRLFIN

KORCHESVNJPN

Regional variation in GDP, country average = 100Source: OECD

… but in disposable income, they are below

OECD average, though significant4

ChiapasSE Anatolia

East SlovakiaTasmania

MississippiNorthern District

West GreeceMaule

Northeast Extremadura

CampaniaNorthern Ireland

Northland Prince Edward Island

NorthwestPodkarpacia

NorthNord-Pas-de-CalaisNorthern Great Plain

GroningenNorth Middle

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

ShikokuEast and North

Gangwon Hedmark and Oppland

WalloniaBorder, Midland, West

Eastern SloveniaCarinthia

Southern Denmark

Federal DistrictAnkara

Bratislava Capital Territory

District of ColumbiaTel Aviv District

AtticaSantiago Metropolitan

North Basque Country

Bolzano-BozenGreater London

Wellington Northwest Territories

PragueMazovia

LisbonÎle-de-France

Central HungaryUtrecht

StockholmBavaria

Southern-KantoÅland

Capital Oslo, AkershusFlemish Region

South and EastWestern Slovenia

Lower AustriaCapital

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

MEXTURSVKAUSUSAISR

GRCCHLESTESPITA

GBRNZL

CANCZEPOLPRTFRA

HUNNLD

SWEDEUJPNFIN

KORNOR

BELIRL

SVNAUTDNK

Regional variation in household disposable income, country average = 100

Source: OECD

Objectives of regional development

policy

Most of OECD countries implement regional policies

with following objectives:

equity (regional balance, “opportunities for citizens

to increase their well-being”);

efficiency (growth and competitiveness) objectives

sustainable development;

improved governance, especially decentralization

and regionalism.

5

Where people live has an important impact on

their opportunities to live well6

Source: OECD

No matter where people live in Poland health

services is below peers7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

0 20000 40000 60000 80000

Num

ber

of

phy

sici

ans

per

10

00

of

pop

ula

tion,

20

14

GDP per capita, constant prices, PPP, 2014

CZE

FRA

DEU

POL

PRT

SVK

ESP

SWE

Source: OECD

Region with

lowest GDP per

capita in PL

Life satisfaction declines with increase

of unemployment and pollution8

Source: OECD Better Life Index

LDZMAZ

MLP

SLA LUB

PKRSWK

PDL

WLK

ZPM

LBU

DSL

OPO

KPM

WMZ

POM

5.2

5.4

5.6

5.8

6.0

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

5.0 10.0 15.0

Self

-report

ed lif

e s

atisf

act

ion

leve

l

Unemployment rate in given region

LDZMAZ MLPSLA

LUB

PKRSWK

PDL

WLK

ZPM

LBU

DSL

OPO

KPM

WMZ

POM

5.2

5.4

5.6

5.8

6.0

6.2

6.4

6.6

6.8

9.0 14.0 19.0

Self

-report

ed lif

e s

atisf

act

ion

leve

l

PM2.5 concentration in air

Growth is fueled mainly by labour productivity

growth…

15 Polish regions were among

the 40 OECD regions with the

highest GDP per capita growth

rate during 2000-13.

labour productivity growth was

a major determinant of the

economic performance for the

top 40 regions

Urban regions at the

productivity frontier

Both sustain employment and

productivity growth is needed

for long term growth

9

LDZMAZ

MLP

SLA

LBLPKR

SWK

PDL

WLK

ZPM

LBU

DSL

OPO

KPM

WMZ

POM

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4Lab

our

utiliza

tion

gro

wth

, 2

00

4-2

013

GVA per employee growth, 2004-2013

Source: OECD

The quality of human capital is central to

increasing productivity10

Source: OECD

LDZ MAZMLP

SLALUB PKR

SWK

PDL WLK

ZPM

LBU

DSL

OPO

KMP

WMZ

POM

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5

GD

P g

row

th(P

PS), 2

00

0-2

01

4

Growth in the percentage of employees with tertiary education, 2000-2014

BE

BG

CZ

DKDE

EE

IE

EL

ESFRIT

CY

LV

LT

LUHU

MTNL

AT

PL

PT

RO

SI

SK

FI

SE

UK

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

-0.2 0.8 1.8

Ave

rage

GD

P g

row

thin

20

% w

ors

tre

gio

ns,

20

00

-2014

Average growth of the percentage of skilledworkforce in 20% worst regions, 2000-2014

Human capital is ample in all Polish regions

11

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

0 20000 40000 60000 80000

Tert

iary

ed

uca

tion

enr

olm

ent

, %

, 2

01

4

GDP per capita, constant prices, PPP, 2014

CZE

FRA

DEU

POL

PRT

SVK

ESP

SWERegion with the

lowest GDP per

capita in PL

Source: OECD

And high share of elderly population is a

challenge, especially for most vulnerable regions12

Source: OECD

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

MEX

TUR

CH

L

ISR

IRL

KO

R

ISL

SV

K

LUX

NZL

AU

S

PO

L

CA

N

NO

R

NLD

CZE

SV

N

GBR

HU

N

CH

E

BEL

ESP

FRA

DN

K

AU

T

EST

FIN

SW

E

PRT

DEU

ITA

JPN

Share of Elderly Population (% 65+ over total population)

Best region Country average Worst region

Source: OECD

Strategic directions for regional development

Policies to promote regional development could

focus: sustain productivity and increase labour utilization

(investments for higher value added production);

generate fairer and livable regional economies (access

to key public services – health!, quality of air and ITC);

promote effective governance at all levels of

government (local-regional-central level cooperation)

13

Features of effective regional strategy

An effective strategy is one that:

Is embedded in its institutional, socio-economic and territorial context;

Identifies a widely shared vision for the future development of the

region;

Engages regional stakeholders in an open and inclusive planning

process;

Communicates its key messages clearly to a diversity of audiences;

Identifies delivery mechanisms and responsibilities in a phased and

coherent manner;

Establishes a simple and effective monitoring framework;

Is flexible enough to react to unforeseen circumstances and is able to

take advantage of windows of opportunity.

14

Common weaknesses in regional development

strategies

There are also a number of common weaknesses in such strategies that

should be avoided:

An over emphasis on analysis and description of the region;

Limited engagement of regional stakeholders;

Poor communication strategy that limits the profile of the strategy;

Avoidance of wicked issues (i.e. particularly difficult and complex issues);

Weak linkages between the analysis, strategy and implementation;

Excessively broad focus trying to address all issues or spread resources

too thinly;

Lack of clarity about delivery mechanisms, responsibilities and phasing;

Insufficient attention to monitoring frameworks and an over emphasis on

quantitative rather than qualitative indicators.

15

The Priority matrix can assist regional

authorities to make informed decisions16

Quick wins

Complex wins

Fill ins Hard slogs

HighEffortLow

Impact

Low

High

Source: http://www.timeanalyzer.com/lib/priority.htm

Thank you