The important beneficiaries of the EU funding that support the development of competitiveness based on innovation are Small and Medium Size Companies (SMEs). Their profiles may vary with respect to the type of business and the competitive environment. Currently, Regional Development and Innovation Agencies operating in the regions of the EU and in associated countries decide about the type and scale of financial support provided to SMEs on the basis of heterogeneous data resources, applying different SME segmentation criteria. The purpose of this article is to justify the necessity and technical possibilities of creating a coherent and intelligent tool for the segmentation of Small and Medium Size Companies, with the support of Regional Development Agency databases. This would allow to monitor the process of providing regional companies with innovative support and would increase the effectiveness of this support (the beneficiaries of the support would be the companies working most effectively on innovations). The analysis of the SME segmentation methods currently used in 18 different European Regional Development Agencies and associated regions was carried out. Furthermore, the approaches to SME segmentation in 15 countries and the European Commission were compared.

The purpose of this article is to investigate the direct effects of student enrolment on industrial production and GDP while controlling other growth determinants such as physical capital investments and employment. Research Design & Methods: Educational effects on output, i.e. industrial production and gross domestic product (GDP), are estimated by means of Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) model, vector error-correction autoregression (VAR/VEC) model, and with the application of annual data sample for the period of 1992-2017. Findings: The study proves that there is a significant correlation between the number of students and output in Poland, especially with respect to the industrial sector. Regardless of estimators used, higher output is related to a decline in student enrolment in a long period of time. Investments in physical capital are an important factor responsible for both higher output and stronger student enrolment. Employment appears to influence neither GDP growth nor student enrolment. However, employment negatively impacts changes in industrial production. Implications & Recommendations: In the presence of an inverse correlation between economic growth and the number of students, the author argues in favour of discreet government policies aimed at boosting student enrolment in alignment with the pattern of investment activities. Contribution & Value Added: The article contributes to a better understanding of two-way causation between student enrolment and economic growth in Poland, with clear guidelines for educational policies aimed at a better match with demand for high-skilled labour in industry. Article type: research article

Using annual time series for the period 2000-2019, this article analyses educational effects of the Engineering & Technology and Economics fields of study for Poland. It was found that the long-term education effects (in levels) are in favour of the former, both in terms of regional output growth and reduction in the number of unemployed. The short-term effects (in the first indicated differences) on both regional growth and unemployment are negative, regardless of the field of study. As both fields of study have unfavourable growth effects in the first differences, it indicates insufficient quality of investments in the human capital.

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