Competitiveness, innovation and regional development. The case of the Visegrad Group countries

The paper relates to factors determining regional competitiveness in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia - the Visegrad Group. The study starts from a comprehensive survey of the literature on regional competitiveness and the potential effects of innovation. The theoretical section is supplemented by empirical one. The aim of the empirical analysis is to investigate the regional diversity of innovativeness and competitiveness in the group of 35 regions (NUTS 2 level) over the period 2001-2008. It is based on one data source: Eurostat Regional Statistics. I applied two classical methods of cluster analysis. The results of non-hierarchical k-means clustering algorithm were compared with the results of hierarchical Ward’s method. The results for the Visegrad Group show faster development of capital regions and diversity of regional competitiveness and innovativeness. According to the results, one can suppose that innovative inputs were transformed in innovative outputs and that innovations had a positive and growing impact on regional competitiveness in the Visegrad Group, however further research is still needed. The major conclusion of the cluster analysis is that the development of regions in the Visegrad Group depends on their nationality – regions cluster within borders. Analysing the results, one should not forget that they are based on selected variables, which are a resultant of –in some measure- random choice and data accessibility.