DEVELOPMENT OF CLUSTERS IN POLAND AND THEIR ROLE FOR ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS

During an era of globalization, technological development and changes in competition have transformed the role of traditionalfactors of industrial location. It may seem that the possibilities of speedy re-locations of different factors of production enable enterprises to locate their economic activity anywhere to realise competitive advantage. However, in reality we observe a tendency for spatial concentration of economic activity and clusters are becoming a striking feature of increasingly complex economy. The paper focuses on the process of development of clusters in Poland and their impact on the competitiveness, which may be analyzed from micro-, meso- and macroeconomic perspective. After joining the European Union, there has been a dynamic creation of clusters in different sectors of Polish economy. The aim of the research is to identify the most important benefits resulting from that process. One of the greatest advantage from clusters is that they constitute the best diagnosed method for stimulating the horizontal cooperation in the economy, which is a central element in modern innovation processes. This assumption is verified in this article on the basis of data collected in survey research conducted in 2012 on 50 cluster coordinators and 350 firms belonging to cluster initiatives. Clusters positively contribute to economic competitiveness, so they can act as growth poles for the economy at regional and national level, which is a reason for the popularity of the concept of cluster-based economic policy. Since cluster concept has become a significant element of modern economic policy, it is important to examine the instruments used in Poland in order to support creation and development of clusters

Keywords:

clusters, competitiveness, growth poles innovation,

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