Clusters as stimulators of businesses and regional development

Abstract

Socio-economic development of a region depends on the number of prosperous and profitable businesses. Local authorities provide proper development potential and facilitate the establishment and operation of business entities by creating business-friendly environment. The Polish and EU regions achieving high rates of efficiency are characterized by the fact that they “combine”, both in formal and informal way, all socio-economic entities in a region in order to gain mutual benefits. Clusters are examples of such networks. Competitive capabilities of autonomous business entities, institutions and research centres in regions with high unemployment, small investments and capital are significantly reduced. The only effective way is to combine their potentials in order to obtain a cumulative advantage over the competition. One such region is Warmia-Masuria Province, which is seeking its chance for development in cluster initiatives. The present article is an attempt to answer the question: What benefits has the Warmia-Masuria region obtained after free years of cluster initiatives?