Transfer of Knowledge and Innovation in Peripheral Regions:The Case of Podlaskie Voivodeship

The territorial dimension is one of the aspects by means of which various economic relations should be analyzed. The logic of regional systems concerns the integration of enterprises and regional institutions with their environments, which in turn provide them with necessary production factors such as: labour, entrepreneurship, material and non-material infrastructure, social culture, and institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of territories (regional economic systems) in the process of creating and using knowledge and its impact on the economic efficiency of the companies which function within their boundaries. The research comprises the traditional branches of Podlaskie's industry and the enterprises operating in the framework of regional economic systems (clusters).

The analysis is conducted by means of an econometric model gauging the influence of territory on the degree of knowledge utilization and innovation levels in enterprises from regional economic systems.

The results show that in the case of those regions which are based on traditional branches, being part of aregional economic system has a positive impact on the levels of innovation and knowledge transfer.

Regional cooperation increases the involvement of business entities in innovation activities, which translates into higher competitiveness of firms. Moreover, the awareness of the necessity of cooperation and use of innovation capital tends to grow.