Industrial Parks, Business Clusters and Business Incubators – Instruments to Promote and Support Competiveness, with an Impact on Economic Growth And Employment

The need for accelerated recovery of regional disparities gives innovation a central role in this process, regardless of the specifics of the region. Our interest was directed towards the major regulations targeting economic growth and employment. Following the inventory of this wide range of legal instruments, we focused our attention on the eligibility criteria/ conditions to be met in order to qualify for specific regulations, on intervention mechanisms, on the role of central public and local authorities. Our approach has identified industrial parks, business clusters and business incubators as instruments to promote and support competitiveness, innovation, where scientific research and technological development are capitalised, with benefits for the entire region, stimulating the creation of high-quality employment. These instruments also intensify the collaboration and proper functioning of partnerships, contributing, each with its own specific character, to creating a favorable and sustainable environment in which start-ups can develop harmoniously locally and regionally, while citizens are able to access a better quality of life. Thus, we explored the key measures/ instruments to minimize market failures, support investments, promote modernization and diversify the activity of economic agents, encourage start-ups, etc., that determine structural changes, revitalize economic sectors, ensure the necessary framework for regional development and lead to the increase of competiveness in a knowledge-based economy, at the same time encouraging cohesion and territorial cooperation.