Perceived Social Capital and Institutional Environment‘s Impact On the Success of Regional Cluster Policies

Abstract

Cluster policies (CPs) are said to be one of the crucial elements supporting the innovativeness of local and regional economies. However, what drives the success of CPs has not been made fully explicit. We tested the impact of perceived quality and strength of social capital (SC) and the formal institutional environment (FIE) upon CPs. We studied this relationship by applying structural equation modelling to data from quantitative CATI research on members of 20 cluster initiatives from four Polish administrative regions (NUTS 2), referred to as voivodships. We have revealed that the formal institutional environment has a strong influence on CPs, whereas, surprisingly, SC hardly matters.

Relationship between ESG and Financial Performance of Companies in the Central and Eastern European Region

“…In turn, these secondary benefits may include improving the quality of life of a society or making it a more attractive place for foreign direct investment in the long term. When comparing this with the outcomes observed by Kwiatkowski et al (2023), who explored the impact of formal institutional environments on the effectiveness of regional cluster policies in 20 Polish clusters and found that cluster coordinators are often institutions from the business environment, one might suggest that such a role could be taken up by companies excelling in ESG practices. Furthermore, improving the quality of life for communities can serve as an example of caring for a broad group of stakeholders, thus perfectly embodying the stakeholder theory (Azmi et al, 2021;Jo & Harjoto, 2011;Ruf et al, 2001).…”

“…Most studies examining the correlation between ESG practices and the worth of companies primarily concentrate on non-financial corporations located in emerging economies. Nevertheless, the level of governance, transparency, and regulatory obligations in emerging markets is comparatively lower than that in industrialised markets (Khanna & Palepu, 2000). These economies are marked by increased uncertainty, and banks in these markets implement anti-cyclical buffers for capital (Bilgin et al, 2021;Moudud-Ul-Huq, 2019).…”