The Investment Attractiveness of Regions as One of Entrepreneurship Development Factors

Summary Subject and purpose of work: The subject of the paper is entrepreneurship development and its determinants, with particular attention to the investment attractiveness of Polish provinces. The purpose of the paper is to identify the level of entrepreneurship development (between 2009 and 2017) and investment attractiveness (between 2009 and 2016) of individual provinces, and to define the correlation between the two features. Materials and methods: The authors of this paper analysed the literature on the subject and performed desk research using data from reports and studies published by GUS (Statistics Poland), PAPR (Polish Agency for Enterprise Development) and IBnGR (Gdańsk Institute for Market Economics). Results: In 2017, the number of SMEs* in Poland increased by over 24% in relation to 2009. The results showed a significant inversely proportional correlation between the number of enterprises per 1000 inhabitants and the one-year survival rate for the enterprises. The investment attractiveness of provinces was diverse. The level of investment attractiveness exerted a considerable influence on enterprise development in individual provinces. Conclusions: The results of the study showed that both the investment attractiveness and entrepreneurship are diverse in individual regions. A significant correlation was found between these two phenomena. Some exceptions to the rule were identified, which can be explained by divergence.