Innovativeness and entrepreneurship: Socioeconomic remarks on regional development in peripheral regions

Abstract

The subject of the article was derived from the learning region theory. The assumption was made that through cooperation of various entities conditions are created conducive to the development of knowledge, entrepreneurship and innovation in regions. The objective is to present the issues of entrepreneurship and innovation as the endogenous factors of regional development in the Podkarpackie region. Empirical conclusions presented in this article come from the research conducted back in 2010-2016. The study is based on the data drawn from CATI carried out among SMEs and qualitative in-depth interviews with “innovation leaders”. The results show an important element in the incompatibility between SMEs’ investment strategies and the institutional environments that should support SMEs in action and planning. There is an incompatibility between the statistical and the empirical approaches to innovation. Based on the results of the empirical research, we conclude that regional policy, concentrated on only the statistical approach to the subject of entrepreneurship and innovation, is doomed to failure. It should include an empirical (qualitative) approach and the regional specificity, especially within peripheral regions.