The aim of the thesis is to explain how and why Turkey influences the development of the Balkan region in contemporary geopolitics. In order to determine the areas of influence I used Saul Cohen's book about the Geopolitics of the World System. I chose the geopolitical approaches and features, which are related to Turkey's activeness in the Balkan region. Moreover, Saul Cohen's equilibrium is taken into consideration in order to show how Turkey shifts, and will shift, the equilibrium to a new level. In the thesis I talk about sustainable development and corporate social responsibility to show that Turkish companies, as well as the government, are creating mutual needs in order to develop the region for further cooperation on an economic and political level. Additionally, I argue that energy cooperation can lead to greater benefits for Turkey, as an energy hub, and also for the Balkans, as a gateway to the European Union. In that sense, I argue that it is not a competition but rather cooperation between the European Union and Turkey in the Balkan region. By analyzing the economic and political activities of Turkey in the Balkan region, I came to the conclusion that Turkey is influencing the Balkan region for five reasons; these are shared history, human aspects, geography, economy and regional...

There is a growing body of literature arguing that NGOs are an important tool in the efforts of civil society to influence the actions of the State, especially in the process of economic development. NGOs are primarily seen as effective advocates for the less privileged sectors of civil society. This study examines the influence of local NGOs participation in the implementation of PLANAFLORO, a regional economic development program partially funded by the World Bank in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. This study focuses on four issues that are commonly used to justify the inclusion of NGOs in the development process: representativeness, accountability, autonomy and effectiveness. This study relies on three basic methods of data gathering: focused interviews of key informants, questionnaire-based surveys of different stake-holder groups, and information from secondary sources. This study’s results challenge the common wisdom regarding the positive impacts of NGO participation in economic development programs, and on their contribution to democratic governance. NGOs participating in PLANAFLORO faced great institutional and political difficulties in the process of participation. Many NGOs did not have either the institutional capabilities or the financial autonomy to influence the process of policy-making in PLANAFLORO effectively. Moreover, most NGOs did not have mechanisms of accountability to inform the program’s intended beneficiaries of the state of PLANAFLORO’s implementation. Finally, both the local State and the World Bank only reluctantly accepted the participation of NGOs in PLANAFLORO. This fact served to greatly limit the contribution of NGOs in PLANAFLORO. / Ph. D.

This dissertation presents an alternative understanding to current works exploring the creative class. Extant views of the creative class portray it as a concentration of individuals and organizations producing clusters of interconnected cultural activities fostering positive socioeconomic change in the communities where they are located. By contrast, this dissertation articulates the creative class as time evolving geographical organizing of networked creative individuals whose presence over time in a community may or may not foster positive socioeconomic change. The creative class is thus conceptualized as contingent and continuously evolving processes whose emergence at any one point in time may or may not be sustainable over time. Framed theoretically through a nexus between strategic management, economic geography, and economic sociology, the unfolding of a creative class is explored as location specific phenomenon illustrating mutually co-constructing processes of organizations and their environment. It focuses –as its exemplar- on local socioeconomic processes enacted by an assortment of artists and artisans in a small New England (USA) former mill town. A case study was derived from data collected for over four years in fieldwork through a multi-method approach. Underpinned by interpretative notions, methodology included participative ethnography and social network analyses, where quantitative and qualitative data functioned in a complementary way. Exploring relationships between artists and artisans and their organizing attempts to become members of the community, observations focused on mundane situations through which these processes were enacted. Social network methodologies contributed to mapping processual linkages between community members, while further ethnographic work contextualized relationships uncovered through social network analyses. The resulting case study presents a narrative about the unfolding of a potential creative class as dynamic bottom-up phenomenon whose socioeconomic consequences cannot be guaranteed by formal planning. Artists and artisans struggle to become a community of creative practice and become acknowledged as such by their neighbors when their organizing opens up socioeconomic change. These processes, which may lead to a sustainable cultural economy in this location, are not independent or exogenous to the place. They are part of the local history, influenced by shared and ongoing socioeconomic processes, and specific to locality.

Yes / This paper uses a large firm-level survey to assess differences in performance across regions. A panel data analysis is conducted to explain both productivity and profitability across firms in terms of firm and industry characteristics. Regional dummies are included to pick up additional location-specific impacts and the size of these dummies is used to rank provinces. Province performance is then examined in terms of geography, infrastructure, the policy environment and aspects of the investment climate with the conclusion that the latter plays a major part in explaining provincial differences in performance.

Thesis is focused on the use of the European Regional Development Fund for Growth potential for development in the region Benešov. At the beginning of the thesis is summarized the development of regional policy from its inception until now. The other part descripes structural funds, greater detail is compiled by the European Regional Development Fund. In the practical part of this thesis is processing evaluation of regional development and there are possible proposed projects that should be implemented in future to help development of the region.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The changes brought by environmental concerns underpin a new paradigm in which change regional development processes in relation to tourist locations. Currently, in order to a change perspective, a tourist area aims the new global context, such as: the economic issue, which requires an articulation in favor of corporate interests, the social and environmental factors, that in a special shape allow to meet the aspirations of the contemporary regional development. These contemporary articulation factors enable regional development is based on different models that address sustainability, and provide study about the institutions as state, organizations and society. In this scenario, which involves the perspective of the new paradigm, the sustainable regional development (SRD), is that this study may suggest studying cities of Gramado, Canela and Nova Petrópolis, exponents of the tourism sector in the Region of Hortênsias/ RS. This study aims to verify the impact of environmental, economic and social variables, from the perception of the representatives of the state, society and organizations in the process of sustainable regional development in tourist cities of the Region of Hortênsias in Rio Grande do Sul. Therefore, we sought to implement a quantitative, descriptive and survey research, since this method includes a significance of identifying and analyzing the social, economic and environmental variables contained in the Chow and Chen (2011) model that was adapted to this study. The model allows data collection involving effective public servants, commissioned positions, government secretaries and undersecretaries (state representatives), teachers (society representatives) and employers and/or managers (organizations representatives). The survey instrument is configured in the form of structured questionnaires, and aims to assess how the target audience satisfaction regarding the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable regional development in the Region of Hortênsias. As a result it was found that the economic, social and environmental model adapted from Chow and Chen (2011) affects positively the SRD. / As mudanças proporcionadas pela preocupação ambiental sustentam um novo paradigma, no qual se alteram os processos de desenvolvimento regional em relação às localidades turísticas. Atualmente, visando esta perspectiva de mudanças, uma região turística se assegura em premissas que atendem ao novo contexto global, tais como: a questão econômica, que por sua vez exige uma articulação em prol dos interesses corporativos, os fatores sociais e ambientais que de forma especializada e contigua permitem atender os anseios do desenvolvimento regional contemporâneo. Estes fatores, de articulação contemporâneos, possibilitam que o desenvolvimento regional se fundamente em diferentes modelos que contemplam a sustentabilidade, além de facultar estudar a influencia de instituições como o Estado, as organizações e a sociedade no peocesso em epígrafe. Neste cenário, que envolve a perspectiva do novo paradigma, o do desenvolvimento regional sustentável (DRS), é que o presente trabalho pode sugerir estudar cidades de Gramado, Canela e Nova Petrópolis, expoentes do setor de turismo na Região das Hortênsias/RS. Este estudo tem como norteador o objetivo de verificar qual o impacto das variáveis ambiental, econômica e social, a partir da percepção dos representantes do Estado, sociedade e organizações, no processo de desenvolvimento regional sustentável em cidades turísticas da Região das Hortênsias no estado do Rio do Grande do Sul. Para tanto, implementou-se uma pesquisa com caráter quantitativo, exploratório, descritivo e causal do tipo survey, pois este método contempla uma análise de literatura sobre o tema, a significância de identificação e análise estatística das variáveis sociais, econômicas e ambientais contidas na adaptação do modelo a ser utilizado de Chow e Chen (2011). O modelo permite que a coleta dos dados envolva funcionários públicos efetivos, cargos comissionados, secretários de governo e subsecretários de governo (representantes do Estado), professores (representantes da sociedade) e empresários e/ou gerentes de empresas (representantes das organizações). O instrumento de pesquisa se configura na forma de questionários estruturados, e tem a finalidade de avaliar qual a satisfação do público alvo com relação as dimensões econômicas, sociais e ambientais do desenvolvimento regional sustentável da Região das Hortênsias. Dentre os resultados encontrados obteve-se que, as dimensões econômica, social e ambiental adaptadas do modelo de Chow e Chen (2011) afetam de forma positiva o DRS. Os resultados também demonstraram que a variável ambiental é a que mais influencia no DRS.

This diploma thesis deals with the financial management of the regions in Czech Republic and its relation to the regional development. The diploma thesis is separated into two parts. The first part of diploma thesis deals with regions as autonomous unit. In this part are defined competences and authorities of regions, the structure and the trends of regional budget. It is emphazed on regional policy and expenditures on support of regional development. The aim of the diploma thesis is to analyze the regional financial management with relation to the regional policy of selected region. For analysis was chosen Vysocina Region. Vysocina Region realizes his regional policy trough strategicy document - Regional Development Plan of Vysocina Region. Regional policy is financed by the resources of regional budget and by two funds -- Vysocina Fund and Fund of strategical reserves.

O presente estudo analisa o processo de inserção do circuito espacial produtivo de celulose na região de Eunápolis, extremo sul da Bahia, através da implantação da empresa Veracel Celulose. Resultado de uma joint-venture entre as empresas Aracruz Celulose e a escandinava Stora Enso, o novo empreendimento conta com uma das maiores plantas industriais do circuito, além de uma área florestal própria, com cerca de cem mil hectares reflorestados, espalhados por dez municípios da região. O trabalho conclui que o recrudescimento da concentração fundiária, implicado pela massiva compra de terras pela empresa, e o grande contingente populacional de migrantes atraídos para Eunápolis com a sua instalação, não são compensados pelos empregos e tributos gerados pela Veracel, trazendo poucas vantagens para quem vivencia a região e o lugar. O discurso do desenvolvimento regional, como conclui a pesquisa, ainda não considera as desigualdades anteriormente impressas no território, ao contrário, só as tem aprofundado. / The present study analyses the insertion of the spatial productive circuit of cellulose in Eunápolis, situated in the extreme south of Bahia state, with the installation of the Veracel Celulose enterprise. Result of a joint venture between Aracruz Celulose and the Scandinavian company Stora Enso, Veracel Celulose is one of the largest industrial plants of the world circuit of cellulose. Its forest area, of approximately a hundred thousand reforested hectares, spreads over ten municipalities of the region. The research shows that land concentration increase, caused by the intensive land purchasing carried out by the company, and the large contingent of migrants attracted to Eunápolis because of its installation, are not compensated by jobs offered and tributes paid by Veracel. So, this large cellulose venture brought little social and economic gains for people living in the region. As a conclusion, we can say that regional development speech still do not consider the inequalities previously imprinted in the territory, on the contrary, it have only deepened them.

The present thesis aims to increase our understanding of the causes of separatism. The inspiration for this topic comes from the fact that separatist conflicts can become extremely destructive, and thus a better understanding of why they emerge may help us prevent much human suffering by pointing to ways in which separatism can be avoided. More specifically, the thesis aims to explain the link between separatism and regional development disparities. The argument presented is that inter-regional economic conflicts (such as about inter-regional fiscal redistribution) easily emerge between regions at different levels of development, and that under certain conditions, particularly prolonged recessions and austerity, such conflicts can become an important driver of separatist aspirations. This can happen in both poorer and richer regions. The thesis further argues that this entire process can only be fully understood if we analyse society through a class prism. Given that regional development disparities often lie at the root of inter-regional economic conflicts, one of the ways of avoiding such conflicts – and thus also separatism – would be to equalize regional development levels. In order to do so, however, we first need to understand why regional disparities emerge and persist. Focusing on capitalist countries, the thesis argues that the disparities emerge as a natural consequence of the operation of oligopolistic markets, which are the dominant market form in capitalism. Regional development policies are explored at length, and it is argued that they are generally insufficient to overcome the tendency of markets to produce regional disparities. All the topics in the thesis are explored at the general level and for a larger number of countries, but the main in-depth case study is of regional disparities in the United Kingdom and how they relate to Scottish separatism.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo investigar a qualidade do planejamento regional desenvolvida no Rio Grande do Sul após a descentralização desta atribuição em favor dos Conselhos Regionais de Desenvolvimento - Coredes. A partir da criação destes Conselhos, diversos Planos Estratégicos de Desenvolvimento Regional foram produzidos pelos Coredes, objetivando a criação de instrumento de organização e hierarquização das demandas regionais, e também como instrumento de promoção do desenvolvimento, através da busca de soluções locais para os problemas enfrentados. Para analisar a atividade de planejamento regional foram estudados, neste trabalho, os Planos Estratégicos de Desenvolvimento Regional, com ênfase nos estudos de caso dos Coredes Vale do Taquari, Noroeste Colonial e Sul. Para alcançar os objetivos traçados e comprovar as hipóteses de trabalho, a metodologia de análise utilizada baseou-se na construção, de acordo com a literatura, de um plano estratégico de desenvolvimento considerado ideal para que, a partir desta referência, os Planos elaborados pelos Coredes pudessem ser investigados. Foram analisadas as etapas de diagnóstico, prognóstico e propostas, foi analisada correlação entre as propostas dos Planos com as propostas do Plano Plurianual 2000-2003. A pesquisa revelou que os Coredes apresentaram baixa capacidade de planejamento, no que se refere à qualidade dos Planos analisados em relação ao Plano Estratégico de desenvolvimento considerado ideal. / This master thesis had as main objective to investigate the regional planning quality developed in Rio Grande do Sul after its decentralization and the creation of the Regional Development Councils - Coredes. From the creation of these Councils, many Regional Development Strategic Plans have been elaborated by the Coredes, having as their goals to install instruments of organization and hierarquization of the regional demands and also instruments of promotion of the development through the search of local solutions to the problems faced. To analyse the regional planning activity, the Regional Development Strategic Plans have been studied, with emphasis on the study cases of the following Coredes: Vale do Taquari, Noroeste Colonial and Sul. To reach the given goals and prove the work hypothesis, the analysis methodology was based on the construction, according to the literature, of the Regional Development Strategic Plan considered ideal so that the Plans elaborated by the Coredes could be investigated having this reference as a basis. The steps analysed where diagnosis, prognosis and propositions as well as the correlation between the proposition in the Plans and the propositions in the Multiannual Plan 2000-2003. The research has revealed that the Coredes has demonstrated low capacity in planning, as regards the quality of the plans elaborated by the Coredes related to the Regional Development Strategic Plan considered ideal.