Smart specialisation development in Latvia

Abstract

Based on data on the number of newly established enterprises and the total number of enterprises, the authors analysed whether and what changes occurred in the industries of the national economy that have high transfer potential in relation to smart specialisation implementation in the country, broken down by region, thereby identifying the RIS3 specialisation field on which the focus has to be placed and to which attention has to be drawn. The aim of the research is to identify the entrepreneurship development in RIS3 specialisation fields broken down by region and economic development according to the RIS3 specialisation fields. The research has found that the number of enterprises in the industries having high transfer potential in relation to RIS3 as a percentage of the total number of enterprises was slightly above 50%; the regional breakdown of the enterprises revealed that two thirds were located in the regions of Riga and Pieriga, and that ICT was the most significant RIS3 specialisation. In the post-crisis period, the number of newly established enterprises increased at the highest rate in 2011, exceeding the rate of the previous year more than two-fold, whereas in the next two years the rate decreased below the 2009 level.