Vladan HRUSKA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Silvie Rita KUCEROVA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Eva NEDOROSTOVA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Jan PISA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Pavel RASKA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Zdenka SMUTNA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Michaela STEBETAKOVA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Petr HLAVACEK, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Tomas SYKORA, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem, Czechia
Economic restructuring of post-socialist countries was associated with intensive deindustrialization and growing social and economic problems especially in old industrial regions. Growing unemployment rate made local, regional and national governments to develop new strategies focusing on jobs creation. These were significantly based on the attraction of foreign investors (Myant and Drahokoupil 2010, Hlavá?ek 2014). Since then, some of the non-metropolitan and old industrial regions have experienced inflow of new investment and jobs especially in the automotive industry (Pavlínek 2004) resulting in the re-orientation and new patterns of dependencies of regional economies. In this paper we ask, how such an intensive transformation and turn from traditional regional industries towards the automotive industry is perceived by inhabitants of old industrial regions?
We present and discuss findings of our survey economic restructuring in the Ústí nad Labem Region (Czechia) and its perception by representatives of local and regional authorities, managers of regional industrial companies and various NGOs and cultural organizations (thirty semi-structured interviews). Ústí nad Labem Region was one of the industrialization cores in Czechia in the mid-19th Century due to the extensive lignite deposits and associated heavy industry. Its industrial importance was, contrary to Western countries, extended by the socialist regime until the end of 1980s. However, with the shift to the market economy the region faced growing economic and social crisis which culminated in the mid-2000s. Since then, the unemployment rate has decreased also due to the arrival of foreign automotive companies.
Based on our research we found out that the perception of automotive companies based in the Ústí nad Labem Region is multifaceted and controversial – both as rescuers of the region and competitors to traditional companies.
Mots clés : old industrial region|automotive industry|lock-in|restructuring|Czechia
A103217VH