Regional Competitiveness from a Macroeconomic Perspective and Within Factors of the Knowledge Economy: A Case Study of the Czech Republic

The paper focuses on the evaluation of the role and influence of the macroeconomic environment on national and regional competitiveness in the context of the knowledge economy. These aspects are evaluated from the perspective of the main theoretical approaches defined in recent years. The main reason for this reflection is the authors attempt to identify the importance of the impact of the macroeconomic environment and trends of strengthening the knowledge economy on regional development. Theoretical approaches are confronted with the progress of strengthening the competitiveness of the Czech Republic within the period 2007 - 2013, which is evaluated at the macroeconomic level within the implementation of the EU cohesion policy. These aspects are then reflected in terms of the challenges and policy-making of the Czech Republic for the following programming period 2014+ and by visions to support regional competitiveness.