Jiří Blažek
Biographic Data
| ID | 3819185 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jiří Blažek |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jiří |
| FAMILY NAME | Blažek |
| SIGNATURE | BLAZEK J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Charles University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6987-3833 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 93 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 28 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Greening tourism in the Giant Mountains
This paper aims to contribute to research on sustainability transitions in tourism research by applying recent evolutionary economic geography concepts to understand the role of agency in new path development in tourism regions, focusing on the Eastern part of the Giant Mountains, the oldest National Park in Czechia. Utilising desk research, decade-long participant observation, and twenty-one interviews with key stakeholders, we highlight distinc…
Offshore companies in global production and financial networks
The role of regional governance modes and system-level agency in evolutionary paths of regional industries
The role of assets and variegated constellations of organizational- and system-level agency in regional transformation
This paper aims to contribute to the study of agency in regional development first by elaborating a typology of organizational- and system-level agency constellations in regions. Second, the paper outlines the main individual and collective assets which influence the vigour and sophistication of organizational- and system-level agency and by specifying the main drivers upon which the exertion of usually more scarce system-level agency is continge…
Geopolitical decoupling and global production networks
This study investigates the decoupling of Ukrainian aerospace, defense and electro-engineering industries resulting from the Russian Crimean annexation in 2014. Conceptually, we contribute to global value chain/global production network research by developing the notion of geopolitical decoupling, thus augmenting the existing 2-fold typology. Moreover, the article elaborates a typology of recoupling. Empirically, we investigate patterns of decoup…
Global production networks and regional innovation systems
This paper contributes to the recent debate between two important streams within current economic geography and regional studies: global value chains/global production networks theories, and regional innovation system theory. Based on the review of key literature, the authors first identify the key conceptual differences between these two streams and then provide a comparative overview of their policy implications. Thereafter, the authors show th…
What drives the economic performance of suppliers in global value chains/global production networks – tier, ownership, size, specialization, or region
The paper investigates the economic performance of Czech electro-engineering companies in relation to their tier, ownership, size, level of specialization, and host region in order to scrutinize one of the key assumptions about functional upgrading, namely that lead firms and higher tier suppliers capture more value than lower tier suppliers. This issue has fundamental policy implications, as global value chain (GVC)/global production network (GP…
The role of geographic and cognitive proximity in knowledge networks
Towards an integrated framework of agency in regional development
This paper investigates the role of agency in regional industrial path development using an integrated framework that combines three recent conceptualizations of agency: (1) firm- and system-level agency; (2) trinity-of-change agency; and (3) reproductive and change agency. Our framework redefines firm- and system-level agency into organizational- and system-level agency to enable a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the agency of var…
Value capture by companies of different ownership, tier, size, and distance to market
This paper investigates a widespread assumption in the upgrading literature that lead firms and higher‐tier suppliers perform better and capture a larger value than lower‐tier suppliers. In contrast to other studies, this analysis is based on a detailed examination of a cross‐sectoral sample of 251 companies (including companies outside production networks) nested in a small economy (Czechia). Our results indicate that the economic performance of…
The dark side of regional industrial path development
Over the past few years, scholarly debates on new path development have attracted increasing attention within the economic geography literature. This work distinguishes various trajectories of regional and industrial evolution. So far, these evolutionary trajectories have been mainly conceptualized as ‘positive’ forms of path development. However, in reality, many regions are undergoing phases that can be characterized as ‘negative’ trajectories.…
Industrial policy and automotive development
This paper investigates the effectiveness of industrial policy, and the role of state capacity to implement it, by making a comparison of automotive development in Thailand and Czechia, the largest vehicle producers in Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, respectively. The development of the industry in both countries primarily relied on foreign investment, despite Czechia’s long earlier history of domestic automotive development. The c…
The variegated role of proximities in acquisitions by domestic and international companies in different phases of economic cycles
Geography, ownership and uneven trends in the economic performance of small banking centres in Europe during the financial crisis
The current phase of intensive globalisation, digitisation, the expansion of fintech companies and the overall impacts of the recent crisis seem to spur further concentration in the banking sector in terms of both the number of banks in operation and the number of banking centres. This research is motivated by the fact that, in contrast to leading financial and banking centres that attract considerable research attention, small banking centres ha…
Towards research impact
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
Soaring unemployment in Czechia during the global economic crisis
This study presents an analysis and visualisation of the evolutionary dynamics of unemployment at the municipal level in Czechia during the global economic crisis. The analysis is based on a monthly time series of unemployment data at a detailed territorial level. Namely, there are 6,258 municipalities in Czechia, which makes it particularly suitable for a detailed investigation of the unfolding and evolution of the recent crisis. Our focus is on…
Knowledge bases, R&D structure and socio-economic and innovation performance of European regions
Due to numerous idiosyncratic features, a profound variety in the level of development and in the nature of regional innovation systems is often acknowledged. This paper has aimed to contribute to existing research by unraveling mutual relationships among knowledge bases, R&D structure and innovation performance of European regions. Our analysis showed that the differences among the European regions in their prevailing knowledge base and in the a…
The impacts of the global economic crisis and its aftermath on the banking centres of Europe
This paper aims to unravel the impacts of the global economic crisis upon European banking centres on the basis of the evolution of key economic indicators, such as total assets, profitability and the level of risk to the banking sector over the 2004–2015 period. Counterintuitively, the European leading banking centres (London, Paris and Frankfurt), despite their extensive exposure to capital markets, displayed a high level of resilience, which c…
Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems
Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the…
University-business collaboration as perceived by leading academics
This article compares the nature of academia-business collaboration in the two most innovative Czech regions, where the respective regional decision-makers and universities’ representatives differ sharply in their approaches towards the commercialization of academic knowledge. An analysis of the nature of collaboration between life-science researchers in two leading Czech universities and private companies has been performed to identify whether t…
Towards a typology of repositioning strategies of GVC/GPN suppliers
This article examines various upgrading and downgrading repositioning firm strategies within global value chains (GVCs) or global production networks (GPNs). It builds upon recent evidence that the mode of governance could vary profoundly among firms engaged in the same GVC/GPN. Therefore, the relevance of particular types of upgrading that were originally derived from the ideal types of GVC/GPN governance will be reconsidered. It is argued that …
Is there a credit-gap in a periphery? The perception of this problem by small entrepreneurs
Emerging regional innovation strategies in Central Europe
The paper seeks to develop a comparative analysis of approaches to innovation support in three self-governing regions of the Czech Republic. Its analytical section presents an in-depth analysis of the development of innovation policies in three regions: the capital city of Prague, South Moravia and the old industrial region of Moravia-Silesia. Key dimensions of regional innovation strategy in each of the three regions are closely scrutinized and …
Regional unemployment impacts of the global financial crisis in the new member states of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe
The article analyses changes in the regional variability of unemployment rates resulting from the global crisis, at the NUTS 3 and LAU 1 levels in the new member states of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the coefficient of variation, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index each show a clear tendency towards convergence, in all of the states and at both of the scale levels observed, the range of variation has increased …
Regional Analysis of Public Capital Expenditure
Blažek J. and Macešková M. Regional analysis of public capital expenditure: to which regions is public capital expenditure channelled – to ‘rich’ or to ‘poor’ ones?, Regional Studies. The paper aims to contribute to the debate on the regional dimension of sectoral (that is, non-regional) policies and to demonstrate empirically the huge discrepancy between both the volume and the regional pattern of sectoral public capital expenditure policies, on…
Towards an integrated framework of agency in regional development
This paper investigates the role of agency in regional industrial path development using an integrated framework that combines three recent conceptualizations of agency: (1) firm- and system-level agency; (2) trinity-of-change agency; and (3) reproductive and change agency. Our framework redefines firm- and system-level agency into organizational- and system-level agency to enable a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the agency of var…
Towards a typology of repositioning strategies of GVC/GPN suppliers
This article examines various upgrading and downgrading repositioning firm strategies within global value chains (GVCs) or global production networks (GPNs). It builds upon recent evidence that the mode of governance could vary profoundly among firms engaged in the same GVC/GPN. Therefore, the relevance of particular types of upgrading that were originally derived from the ideal types of GVC/GPN governance will be reconsidered. It is argued that …
A New Phase of Regional Development in the Czech Republic
The article aims to identify the development phases in the process of the regional differentiation in the Czech Republic after 1989, and examines whether this differentiation trend is currently changing. The assumption the article's hypothesis is based on is that during recent development the basic 'parameters' of the principal features of the country's regional structure have been stabilized amidst the conditions of parliamentary democracy and a…
Regional Analysis of Public Capital Expenditure
Blažek J. and Macešková M. Regional analysis of public capital expenditure: to which regions is public capital expenditure channelled – to ‘rich’ or to ‘poor’ ones?, Regional Studies. The paper aims to contribute to the debate on the regional dimension of sectoral (that is, non-regional) policies and to demonstrate empirically the huge discrepancy between both the volume and the regional pattern of sectoral public capital expenditure policies, on…
Geopolitical decoupling and global production networks
This study investigates the decoupling of Ukrainian aerospace, defense and electro-engineering industries resulting from the Russian Crimean annexation in 2014. Conceptually, we contribute to global value chain/global production network research by developing the notion of geopolitical decoupling, thus augmenting the existing 2-fold typology. Moreover, the article elaborates a typology of recoupling. Empirically, we investigate patterns of decoup…
Regional unemployment impacts of the global financial crisis in the new member states of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe
The article analyses changes in the regional variability of unemployment rates resulting from the global crisis, at the NUTS 3 and LAU 1 levels in the new member states of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the coefficient of variation, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index each show a clear tendency towards convergence, in all of the states and at both of the scale levels observed, the range of variation has increased …
Geography, ownership and uneven trends in the economic performance of small banking centres in Europe during the financial crisis
The current phase of intensive globalisation, digitisation, the expansion of fintech companies and the overall impacts of the recent crisis seem to spur further concentration in the banking sector in terms of both the number of banks in operation and the number of banking centres. This research is motivated by the fact that, in contrast to leading financial and banking centres that attract considerable research attention, small banking centres ha…
Emerging regional innovation strategies in Central Europe
The paper seeks to develop a comparative analysis of approaches to innovation support in three self-governing regions of the Czech Republic. Its analytical section presents an in-depth analysis of the development of innovation policies in three regions: the capital city of Prague, South Moravia and the old industrial region of Moravia-Silesia. Key dimensions of regional innovation strategy in each of the three regions are closely scrutinized and …
The role of geographic and cognitive proximity in knowledge networks
Industrial policy and automotive development
This paper investigates the effectiveness of industrial policy, and the role of state capacity to implement it, by making a comparison of automotive development in Thailand and Czechia, the largest vehicle producers in Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, respectively. The development of the industry in both countries primarily relied on foreign investment, despite Czechia’s long earlier history of domestic automotive development. The c…
The variegated role of proximities in acquisitions by domestic and international companies in different phases of economic cycles
Towards research impact
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
Knowledge bases, R&D structure and socio-economic and innovation performance of European regions
Due to numerous idiosyncratic features, a profound variety in the level of development and in the nature of regional innovation systems is often acknowledged. This paper has aimed to contribute to existing research by unraveling mutual relationships among knowledge bases, R&D structure and innovation performance of European regions. Our analysis showed that the differences among the European regions in their prevailing knowledge base and in the a…
The impacts of the global economic crisis and its aftermath on the banking centres of Europe
This paper aims to unravel the impacts of the global economic crisis upon European banking centres on the basis of the evolution of key economic indicators, such as total assets, profitability and the level of risk to the banking sector over the 2004–2015 period. Counterintuitively, the European leading banking centres (London, Paris and Frankfurt), despite their extensive exposure to capital markets, displayed a high level of resilience, which c…
Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems
Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the…
Changing local finances in the Czech Republic — half way over
Changing local finances in the Czech Republic — half way over
Ex-ante evaluation in the new member states
Blazek J. and Vozab J. (2006) Ex-ante evaluation in the new Member States: the case of the Czech Republic, Regional Studies 40, 237-248. The paper gives a critical analysis of evaluation culture in one of the new Member States of the European Union: the Czech Republic. It examines the experience of drafting the first generation of programming documents for the EU Cohesion policy and of ex-ante evaluation, focusing on the National Development Plan…
A New Phase of Regional Development in the Czech Republic
The article aims to identify the development phases in the process of the regional differentiation in the Czech Republic after 1989, and examines whether this differentiation trend is currently changing. The assumption the article's hypothesis is based on is that during recent development the basic 'parameters' of the principal features of the country's regional structure have been stabilized amidst the conditions of parliamentary democracy and a…
Regional Analysis of Public Capital Expenditure
Blažek J. and Macešková M. Regional analysis of public capital expenditure: to which regions is public capital expenditure channelled – to ‘rich’ or to ‘poor’ ones?, Regional Studies. The paper aims to contribute to the debate on the regional dimension of sectoral (that is, non-regional) policies and to demonstrate empirically the huge discrepancy between both the volume and the regional pattern of sectoral public capital expenditure policies, on…
Emerging regional innovation strategies in Central Europe
The paper seeks to develop a comparative analysis of approaches to innovation support in three self-governing regions of the Czech Republic. Its analytical section presents an in-depth analysis of the development of innovation policies in three regions: the capital city of Prague, South Moravia and the old industrial region of Moravia-Silesia. Key dimensions of regional innovation strategy in each of the three regions are closely scrutinized and …
Regional unemployment impacts of the global financial crisis in the new member states of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe
The article analyses changes in the regional variability of unemployment rates resulting from the global crisis, at the NUTS 3 and LAU 1 levels in the new member states of the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. Although the coefficient of variation, the Gini coefficient and the Theil index each show a clear tendency towards convergence, in all of the states and at both of the scale levels observed, the range of variation has increased …
University-business collaboration as perceived by leading academics
This article compares the nature of academia-business collaboration in the two most innovative Czech regions, where the respective regional decision-makers and universities’ representatives differ sharply in their approaches towards the commercialization of academic knowledge. An analysis of the nature of collaboration between life-science researchers in two leading Czech universities and private companies has been performed to identify whether t…
Towards a typology of repositioning strategies of GVC/GPN suppliers
This article examines various upgrading and downgrading repositioning firm strategies within global value chains (GVCs) or global production networks (GPNs). It builds upon recent evidence that the mode of governance could vary profoundly among firms engaged in the same GVC/GPN. Therefore, the relevance of particular types of upgrading that were originally derived from the ideal types of GVC/GPN governance will be reconsidered. It is argued that …
Is there a credit-gap in a periphery? The perception of this problem by small entrepreneurs
Smart specialisation in regions with less-developed research and innovation systems
Universities and other knowledge institutions have quickly come to be seen as central to smart specialisation. However, their exact role in Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation has yet to receive much critical attention in the academic literature. This is particularly notable as defining features of smart specialisation – such as the entrepreneurial dynamic of the strategy-formation process, and differentiated nature of the…
Knowledge bases, R&D structure and socio-economic and innovation performance of European regions
Due to numerous idiosyncratic features, a profound variety in the level of development and in the nature of regional innovation systems is often acknowledged. This paper has aimed to contribute to existing research by unraveling mutual relationships among knowledge bases, R&D structure and innovation performance of European regions. Our analysis showed that the differences among the European regions in their prevailing knowledge base and in the a…
The impacts of the global economic crisis and its aftermath on the banking centres of Europe
This paper aims to unravel the impacts of the global economic crisis upon European banking centres on the basis of the evolution of key economic indicators, such as total assets, profitability and the level of risk to the banking sector over the 2004–2015 period. Counterintuitively, the European leading banking centres (London, Paris and Frankfurt), despite their extensive exposure to capital markets, displayed a high level of resilience, which c…
Soaring unemployment in Czechia during the global economic crisis
This study presents an analysis and visualisation of the evolutionary dynamics of unemployment at the municipal level in Czechia during the global economic crisis. The analysis is based on a monthly time series of unemployment data at a detailed territorial level. Namely, there are 6,258 municipalities in Czechia, which makes it particularly suitable for a detailed investigation of the unfolding and evolution of the recent crisis. Our focus is on…
The dark side of regional industrial path development
Over the past few years, scholarly debates on new path development have attracted increasing attention within the economic geography literature. This work distinguishes various trajectories of regional and industrial evolution. So far, these evolutionary trajectories have been mainly conceptualized as ‘positive’ forms of path development. However, in reality, many regions are undergoing phases that can be characterized as ‘negative’ trajectories.…
Industrial policy and automotive development
This paper investigates the effectiveness of industrial policy, and the role of state capacity to implement it, by making a comparison of automotive development in Thailand and Czechia, the largest vehicle producers in Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, respectively. The development of the industry in both countries primarily relied on foreign investment, despite Czechia’s long earlier history of domestic automotive development. The c…
The variegated role of proximities in acquisitions by domestic and international companies in different phases of economic cycles
Geography, ownership and uneven trends in the economic performance of small banking centres in Europe during the financial crisis
The current phase of intensive globalisation, digitisation, the expansion of fintech companies and the overall impacts of the recent crisis seem to spur further concentration in the banking sector in terms of both the number of banks in operation and the number of banking centres. This research is motivated by the fact that, in contrast to leading financial and banking centres that attract considerable research attention, small banking centres ha…
Towards research impact
There is increasing pressure on academics to show the impact of their research. At the same time, policy-makers are expected to draw upon a wide base of evidence, including academic research, to develop innovative solutions to often intractable societal problems. Despite these complementary objectives of impact and use of evidence, the relationship between academics and policy-makers is often difficult. Some have characterized these groups as ‘tw…
Global production networks and regional innovation systems
This paper contributes to the recent debate between two important streams within current economic geography and regional studies: global value chains/global production networks theories, and regional innovation system theory. Based on the review of key literature, the authors first identify the key conceptual differences between these two streams and then provide a comparative overview of their policy implications. Thereafter, the authors show th…
What drives the economic performance of suppliers in global value chains/global production networks – tier, ownership, size, specialization, or region
The paper investigates the economic performance of Czech electro-engineering companies in relation to their tier, ownership, size, level of specialization, and host region in order to scrutinize one of the key assumptions about functional upgrading, namely that lead firms and higher tier suppliers capture more value than lower tier suppliers. This issue has fundamental policy implications, as global value chain (GVC)/global production network (GP…
The role of geographic and cognitive proximity in knowledge networks
Towards an integrated framework of agency in regional development
This paper investigates the role of agency in regional industrial path development using an integrated framework that combines three recent conceptualizations of agency: (1) firm- and system-level agency; (2) trinity-of-change agency; and (3) reproductive and change agency. Our framework redefines firm- and system-level agency into organizational- and system-level agency to enable a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the agency of var…
Value capture by companies of different ownership, tier, size, and distance to market
This paper investigates a widespread assumption in the upgrading literature that lead firms and higher‐tier suppliers perform better and capture a larger value than lower‐tier suppliers. In contrast to other studies, this analysis is based on a detailed examination of a cross‐sectoral sample of 251 companies (including companies outside production networks) nested in a small economy (Czechia). Our results indicate that the economic performance of…
Geopolitical decoupling and global production networks
This study investigates the decoupling of Ukrainian aerospace, defense and electro-engineering industries resulting from the Russian Crimean annexation in 2014. Conceptually, we contribute to global value chain/global production network research by developing the notion of geopolitical decoupling, thus augmenting the existing 2-fold typology. Moreover, the article elaborates a typology of recoupling. Empirically, we investigate patterns of decoup…
The role of assets and variegated constellations of organizational- and system-level agency in regional transformation
This paper aims to contribute to the study of agency in regional development first by elaborating a typology of organizational- and system-level agency constellations in regions. Second, the paper outlines the main individual and collective assets which influence the vigour and sophistication of organizational- and system-level agency and by specifying the main drivers upon which the exertion of usually more scarce system-level agency is continge…
Economics (22 works) · Business (14 works) · Economic geography (12 works) · Geography (12 works) · Regional Development and Policy (12 works) · Regional science (12 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Political science (9 works) · Regional resilience and development (8 works) · Global trade and economics (7 works)