Possibilities of Slovak municipalities to participate in regional development in context of globalization

¹ Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, Department of Political Science, Kuzmányho 1, 974 01 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
² Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Faculty of Economics, Department of Quantitative Methods and Information Systems, Tajovského 10, 975 90 Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

^* Corresponding author: zuzana.rigova@umb.sk

Abstract

Nowadays, globalization affects almost all aspects of social life. It is sensible to respond flexibly to these trends and to be prepared for their benefits or potential risks. The local self-government represented by municipalities has an increasingly important role in the economic development of individual regions of Slovakia. Are municipalities prepared for the process of globalization and its impacts? Do they have tools in their hands to respond to its trends? One of the most important tasks of the municipality is to serve as an activator of regional, social and economic development and to influence the conditions for entrepreneurship by attracting potential investors to start business activities in the municipality territories. The new entrepreneurial activities and investments are a potential source of new job opportunities resulting in increased living standards of the local residents. This paper deals with indicators that express the financial capacity of the municipality and thus the ability of the municipality to participate in the process of development of a particular region. The analysis evaluates data obtained from financial statements of Slovak municipalities for year 2017. Its results show that the available financial resources of municipalities are limited and therefore the municipalities are unable to support regional development from their own financial sources.