Abstract
The analysis and management of innovation of the economic potential of the rural enterprises are currently the limiting factors of the stability and development of the enterprises; on the other hand, it is a condition for maintaining rural viability. Innovation is a catalyst for the growth of the enterprises, both within their internal environment and in the rural areas and the settlements established in such areas. Only the interconnection of the two levels of innovation (corporate and territorial) ensures stability and profitability for the enterprise. The paper focuses on the latter-mentioned part of innovation, both in terms of the methodology and research. The method for determining the innovative economic potential of rural settlements is presented in the paper, defined as the existential and development base for different enterprises. In relation, the paper discusses the issue of quantification of the economic potential of the clusters. The data acquisition is based on secondary data of the LAGs of the South Bohemian Region and the data from Ekotoxa. All municipalities of Trebonsko LAG (Czech Republic) are included in the data collection. The method for clustering the municipalities by their specifics is supposed to be the most important result of the research, together with defining the areas suitable for innovation processes. Four models - Economic Cluster, Social Cluster, Cluster of Infrastructure, and Cluster of Environment - are defined based on four groups of the variables (economic, social, infrastructure, and environmental). A municipality is classified into an appropriate group based on the group (pillar) in which the municipality scored the highest average order. The average order of the municipality in each pillar is calculated as well. The method is followed by a verified procedure for defining the business potential of the clusters. The stepwise backward regression method is used to define the index of progressivity of the economic structure, determining the socio-economic differentiation of the regions in the Czech Republic. Regarding both the methodological procedure and the analytical tool, it is possible to state their suitable choice; the research results are relevant, valid, and usable in practice. The activities with high economic and innovation potential in the tested area include transport services, availability of the services, municipal infrastructure, drinking water supply, the occurrence of water bodies, and the structure of the population. Keywords: municipality, economic potential, rural area, cluster, Stepwise backward regression, models, LAG of Trebonsko.
Highlights
There is agreement on the need for innovation processes in the business environment, both among the business managers and among the scientific community
Each municipality is included in a specific cluster according to which group it scored the highest average ranking
The municipality is assigned the cluster in which the municipality scored the highest average ranking from all four pillars
Summary
There is agreement on the need for innovation processes in the business environment, both among the business managers and among the scientific community. The implementation of such a process into the rural environment, and the environment of the municipalities is widely discussed. This is compounded by the fact that currently, there is no valid definition of rural areas, supported by the legislation. By Binek, if there has to be a definition of rural areas for the application of development instruments, such specification must be unambiguous given its use commonly related to the allocation of the public resources (Binek et al, 2012). Development can include activities and tools used to sustain the current state (Binek et al, 2009) and to stop a long-term decrease using removing unwanted differences
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