Anna Lewandowska

Department of Management,

University of Information Technology and Management,

Rzeszów, Poland

E-mail: alewandowska@wsiz.edu.pl

ORCID 0000-0002-5351-8490

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

Mateusz Stopa

Department of Social Sciences, 

University of Information Technology and Management,

Rzeszów, Poland

E-mail: mstopa@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0002-9286-5073

Elżbieta Inglot-Brzęk

Department of Social Sciences, 

University of Information Technology and Management,

Rzeszów, Poland

E-mail: elzbietainglot.brzek@gmail.com

ORCID 0000-0003-3716-3295

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.

Received: April, 2020

1st Revision: June, 2020

Accepted: March, 2021

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-2/12

JEL Classification: L26, O31, R58

Keywords: innovation, SMEs, entrepreneurship, regional development, peripheral region