MISCELLANEA GEOGRAPHICA – RegIONal StuDIeS ON DeVelOpmeNt Vol. 17 • No. 2 • 2013 • pp. 30-37 • ISSN: 2084-6118 • DOI: 10.2478/v10288-012-0032-3 The features of economic behavior of the urban population in the ethnic the region of Kashubia (Kashuby / Cassubia) Abstract the article refers to the economic analysis of behavior of the urban Paweł Czapliński1 population living in the ethno-region of Kashubia. the study measured Wioletta Szymańska2 the intensity of local entrepreneurship in the cities, the effectiveness of obtaining eu funds, as well as the assessment of the local units’ own income. the study was conducted in three spatial dimensions, treating 1Institute of Geography and Regional Studies the tri-City, the cities of Kashubia and the remaining cities of pomerania Pomeranian University in Słupsk as separate entities. the analysis showed a clear separation of the tri- e-mail: [email protected] City as a metropolitan area and the main center of economic growth, 2Institute of Geography and Regional Studies accumulating the largest share of economic, social and innovation capital. Pomeranian University in Słupsk In almost every respect, the Kashubian cities confirmed a strong concern e-mail: [email protected] for the development of local entrepreneurship, which makes them more dynamic in comparison to other cities of pomerania. Keywords entrepreneurship • ethnic region • city • Kashubia • poland Received: 28 September 2012 © university of Warsaw – Faculty of geography and Regional Studies accepted: 7 march 2013 Introduction today, when technical and technological progress is the phenomenon of entrepreneurship should be understood proceeding at an ever increasing pace, closely connected with as an attitude involving motivation and skills to identify market globalization and civilization based not only on knowledge and opportunities in order to produce a new value or economic success. innovation, but also on the information society, entrepreneurship If we assume that modern economic existence forces permanent becomes an integral part of innovation. as noted by Greblikaite competition, the use of creativity or innovation by an enterprise & Krisciunas (2012), innovation at the local level is related mainly is a prerequisite for participation in the market and may even to places in which companies and institutions look for the most ensure the possibility of changing it. therefore entrepreneurship favorable conditions for their location and functioning. When within the urban population, especially in smaller towns, is not it comes to the place of the local segment in the innovation only positive or recommended but also necessary. system, it is provided by the union of municipalities, enterprises, ethnic regions are special economic areas, since their companies and institutions creating projects characterized by economic development combines with the cultivation of traditions, high technological and ecological standards. which often determines the direction of the modern forms of Innovation in local economies should be understood not activity. this is mentioned by many researchers dealing with only as local scientific activities, but also as the innovation ethnic regions e.g. W. Phansuwan, S. Photisan and A. Kangrang (2010) and ingenuity of private sector enterprises which affects who focused on commercial production of traditional products of the development of the endogenous segment of the local silk in lower-Isan in thailand, S. Chaiyatorn, P. Kaoses and P. Thitphat economy. R. Domański (2000), J. de la Mothe & G. Mallory (2006) and (2010) who discussed the strengthening of tourism development Ch.V. Hawkins (2011) discussed the phenomenon of self- and the cultivation of ethnic identity in thailand, as well as L. Zhang strengthening development of the economy in cities, which takes and F. Wang (2010) who referred to the socio-economic development place when there is consistent feedback between elements of the through the strengthening of education and improvement of the economy, including investment in human capital, creativity and quality of human capital in ethnic regions of China. the study innovation, social capital, institutions organizing co-operation of of entrepreneurial behavior in the ethnic regions of europe different entities, comparative advantages and competitiveness. has a neo-liberal and post-modern context (Bertuglia, Lombardo local entrepreneurship for the development of the city on the & Nijkamp 1997). many authors have discussed the operation of part of the authorities, community leaders, policy makers, as small and medium-sized enterprises in the regions without tying well as people themselves becomes a value in itself, since it them to specific behaviors, but rather with a market economy, is conducive for creating a climate appropriate for developing legal and administrative determinants and the socio-economic broadly understood cooperation and thus competitiveness and structure of the region (for example: Lybaert 1998, Bishop 2008, innovation. Sleutjes, Oort & Schutjens 2012). among the few comparative studies, 30 MISCELLANEA GEOGRAPHICA – RegIONal StuDIeS ON DeVelOpmeNt Vol. 17 • No. 2 • 2013 • pp. 30-37 • ISSN: 2084-6118 • DOI: 10.2478/v10288-012-0032-3 N. Bosma and V. Schutjens (2011) pointed out the significant differences more similar to other metropolitan areas than other cities in the in the behavior and attitudes of entrepreneurship in 127 regions region. of europe, naming the regional potential as an important factor the Słupsk sub-region with the city of Słupsk exhibits a in these differences. Whereas, Davidsson P. and J. Wiklund (2001), or kind of separateness. It is an area characterized by a historical Q. Wang (2012) shows the influence of cultural factors on the distinctness from the Kashubia region, since it remained under behavior of entrepreneurs and postulate for the inclusion of german control for a longer time. Nevertheless, the area is the studies on ethnic communities entrepreneurship to the connected with Kashubia to some extent thanks to Slavic culture. interdisciplinary multiscale spatial studies. In more modern history, the biggest population exchange in according to the previous studies carried out by comparison to other areas in the pomerania province, the result M. Dutkowski (2002) in the Kashubia region, the level of measurable of restoration of its lands after the World War II, is an expression entrepreneurship was higher in cities than in rural areas. this of this individuality. this led to the disappearance of tradition as phenomenon applies to different types of entrepreneurship – well as the links between people, which consequently caused a starting from the most basic, known simply as “resourcefulness”, decrease in their attachment to the region. to complex intellectual entrepreneurship (Kwiatkowski 2002). the study revealed that inhabitants of Kociewie (an therefore, further discussion is related to the urban population ethnocultural region in the eastern part of the tuchola Forest), of the ethnic region of Kashubia in relation to other cities of powiśle (a contemporary geographic region covering areas of the pomerania. east bank of the lower Vistula) and Żuławy (the alluvial delta area the main objective of this paper is to determine whether of the Vistula) were residents of the pomerania region displaying the behavior and therefore the effects of entrepreneurship of the closest attachment to poland. the cities located directly on Kashubian urban population differ from the economic behavior the coast and in the puck Bay constitute an exceptional group. of people in other cities of pomerania. the detailed explanations Since this is an attractive location for the development of tourism show the level and direction of these differences (active - passive and the maritime economy, increased activity by inhabitants and communities). opening of businesses by other people of the tri-City, Słupsk or the research problem is therefore a question of the medium-sized pomeranian cities, provide the region with better uniqueness of urban population entrepreneurship in the ethnic economic results for the local economy. region of Kashubia. the Kashubian region is the most culturally defined area. Historical conditions, the stability of social behaviors as well as the Research Methodology inhabitants’ strong ethnic identity clearly mark its separateness. the measurement of the economic effects of entrepreneurship as a result, the empirical considerations are limited to three in the Kashubian cities have been carried out according to groups of cities: firstly, the Kashubian cities without the tri-City, the assessment of intensity of 11 indicators in 3 categories of secondly - the tri-City (gdańsk, gdynia, Sopot) itself and thirdly, economic data obtained from the Central Statistical Office. the other cities of the region. this was to present the differences selection was performed on the basis of the logical interpretation between local economic attitudes of the Kashubian cities and of importance of these measures for competitiveness and other cities of the region, as well as the tri-City, which received economic development of cities and they included: special treatment as it is a metropolitan area. 1. Indicators of entrepreneurship The cultural region of Kashubia • total number of entities per 10,000 inhabitants according to the ethnic criteria of J. Mordawski (2008), the • the number of newly registered enterprises per 10,000 inhabitants cultural region of Kashubia located in