THE ASSESMENT OF SLOVAK REGIONS' COMPETITIVENESS

Regional competitiveness can be defined as the ability to offer an attractive and sustainable environment for firms and residents to live and work. It is important to know how can be the regional competitiveness evaluated. One of the used methods for assessment of regional competitiveness is the calculation of Regional Competitiveness Index. Regional Competitiveness Index was created for improvement of the understanding the territorial competitiveness at the regional level by European Commission. The main aim of the paper is the construction of the Regional Competitiveness Index for condition of the Slovak regions. Indicators included in the Regional Competitiveness Index are tested on data reliability and availability, statistical consistency and assessed by multivariate analysis. In assessing the competitiveness of regions univariate and multivariate analysis were applied. Internal data consistency is verified by Principal Component Analysis. The results of constructed Regional Competitiveness Index for Slovak regions show the heterogeneous situation between Slovak regions. The constructed model could be used for comparison between other years.