Public Goods as Factors of a Local Economic Development in Slovakia

In the (neo)liberal perspective of the economic growth/development, a state should play a minimal role in the economy. Recently, the consequences of the economic crisis in the European Union have indicated that the role of the state in the terms of overcoming the crisis consequences is present. The classical liberal approach to the free market and no role of governance in the increasing economic growth seem to be overcome. This article demonstrates the thesis that the paradigm about a positive consequence of public goods investments to the economic development has had the epistemological relevance. The important role of a government in modern economic systems has been already accepted as essential, but the questionable thesis still resists on the role of the local self-governments. In the case of Slovakia, this article comprehensively analyzed a correlation between providing the local public goods and the local economic development and has shown a relative impact of the local public goods on the local economic development. Moreover, this research of local public goods, based on the neo-Weberian role of the state, is mainly filling a gap in the social, economic and political research in Slovakia. This article is also contributing to the worldwide discussion about the importance of the spending to the public goods, especially during and after the economic crisis