Intersectoral and intermunicipal cooperation are still underdeveloped spheres of public and economic development policies. This also applies to the natural economy to a large extent. Scientific discussions are invariably focused on pro-competitive activities, the economic efficiency of which is not always sufficient. In this paper the authors attempt to identify factors leading to cooperation between local government authorities and economic entities focusing on the forestry and wood-based sector in Poland. These processes were analyzed within the framework of the Spatial Economics and New Institutional Economy, both in the theoretical and practical context. The aim of the research was to identify the ability to create intersectoral and intermunicipal partnerships in already existing and newly established functional areas, as this may determine the development of the forestry and wood-based industry.

Analyzing the relationship between production of wood-based products and the production of paper and its derivatives ever more often attention is paid to complementarity of the processes of production, recovery and recycling of key raw materials and finally to their value and profitability of production. In this context, two main trends in converting wood by-products are noticed: paper production and energy generation. Developmentofmarketofsawmillby-productsconstitutesachallengeforwoodindustry, which requires determination of the most efficient means of utilizing those byproducts. One of the crucial criteria of making business decisions is the value of wood by-products. A method of valuation of those sawmill by-products when converted into briquettes, pellet, or energy was presented. This method allows for multilateral analysis of profitability of various means of utilizing wooden by-products, on the example of Poland. Based on comparative analysis, recommendations for wood-based industry were formulated.in global production and trade. The total forest area in Poland amounts to 9.2 thousands hectares, which means the afforestation rate is 29.5% (0.24 ha of forest per capita). Public f o r e s t sh o l dad o m i n e e r i n gp o s i t i o n( 8 0 . 8 % ) ,m a i n l yt h o s em a n a g e db yN a t i o n a lF o r e s t Holding "The State Forests" (77%), which is a natural monopolist on the wood market. Polish gross wood resources amount to approximately 2.5 billion m 3 of large timber (out of which almost 2.0 billion m 3 belongs to The State Forests). The position of forest and woodbased sector in Polish economy is determined by key factors: forests cover about 30% of Poland's territory, its share in GDP equals 2%, it creates workplaces and stimulates regional development. The contribution of forestry and wood-based sector to gross domestic product (GDP) in Poland amounts to: in case of forestry-0.3, and in case of wood industry-1.7%, which comes to an average share of forest and wood-based sector at the level of 2% (which is almost twice the world average) [1,2]. Despite the imbalance in Polish wood-and wooden products market and the deficit of wood (a permanent phenomenon being an effect of the application of the principles of sustainable forest management), there is no threat for the developmentofwood-basedindustriesinPoland [3,4]. The following factors have a decisive impact on that: dynamic increase of demand for wood, wood being trendy and popular as an environmentally and human friendly raw material [5,6]. A study of inter-sectoral cooperation seems justified with reference to the wood-based sector, especially owing to its territorial dispersion [7].

Intersectoral and intermunicipal cooperation are still underdeveloped spheres of public and economic development policies. Academic discussions are invariably focused on pro-competitive activities, the economic efficiency of which is not always sufficient. In this paper the authors attempt to identify factors leading to cooperation between local government authorities and economic entities, focusing on examples from the forest and wood-based sector in Poland. These processes are analysed in the framework of the New Institutional Economy, both in the theoretical and practical context.

Intersectoral and intermunicipal cooperation are still underdeveloped spheres of public and economic development policies. Academic discussions are invariably focused on pro-competitive activities, the economic efficiency of which is not always sufficient. In this paper the authors attempt to identify factors leading to cooperation between local government authorities and economic entities, focusing on examples from the forest and wood-based sector in Poland. These processes are analysed in the framework of the New Institutional Economy, both in the theoretical and practical context.