News

The study “Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2012” was presented on November 8^th 2012 at the Press Club of BTA. About 30 journalists were present at the event. Each of those who attended the event received a paperback copy of the study.

Right before the end of the press conference the website of the study was launched. Until the end of the day the results of the study were covered by a number of top-ranking media, including:

• Bulgarian national television
• bTV
• 24 Hours newspaper
• Sega newspaper
• Standart newspaper
• Monitor newspaper
• 24 Hours newspaper (2)
• Darik radio
• capital.bg
• dnevnik.bg
• investor.bg
• econ.bg
• vesti.bg
• darikfinance.bg
• money.bg
• economy.bg
• trud.bg
• Infobusiness and others

The project “Regional Profiles: Indicators of Development” is carried out with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation.

Materials of the press conference, dedicated to the survey

We present you the materials which were handed out at the press conference, dedicated to the presentation of “Regional Profiles: Indicators for Development 2012”.

In these materials you can find information on the basic results of the analyses, conducted as part of the project, as well as IME’s recommendations for improvement of regional competiveness.

• The handout is available in pdf as well as docx format.
• The presentation used to present the project is available in pdf format.
• The districts’ performance grades in each of the 8 categories – economy, infrastructure, business climate, education, etc. are available here.

General conclusions:

1. Until 2008, all districts demonstrated growth, but the rich ones developed faster than the poor ones; i.e. the gap between them increased and a group of regions that developed much faster than the others emerged;
2. The gap has increased in the period of economic boom as well as in the period of crisis;
3. The number of districts with poor socioeconomic profiles or showing negative trends is much bigger than the number of those with good socioeconomic profiles and positive trends;
4. Demographic developments have an extremely strong – and usually negative – impact on the economic development of the regions;
5. The high sense of security and the good quality of the environment increase personal satisfaction with life, while work conditions, income levels and the quality of infrastructure bring dissatisfaction;
6. In spite of rather prolonged negative developments in the poorest regions, the majority of the population in them features rather low mobility;
7. Proximity to Sofia (the capital) doesn’t have a singular effect on all the neighboring regions and does not automatically bring any advantage;
8. The central government still plays a major role in local policies; this can be attributed to the unwillingness to delegate more powers to the local authorities;
9. Even though local policies are restricted by law, they can have a paramount impact on the living conditions and business environment on regional level;
10. Data is extremely scarce on a regional level, and sometimes its quality is questionable, which casts doubt on the ability of the government (both central and local) to take informed decisions.

Recommendations:

• A policy cannot have the same effect on all regions, therefore a higher degree of decentralization of the decision-making process is necessary;
• Real financial independence of the regions is needed; this will allow for differentiated local policies;
• Parliament should not be able to define the limits of local taxes – the decision and the responsibility for them should be delegated entirely to the local authorities;
• The regions should benefit from economic development – i.e. they should be entitled to a part of the revenues from as many taxes as possible, especially those connected with local economic activity (for instance, a part of the revenue from VAT, income taxes, corporate profit taxes etc.);
• Powers of regional authorities with regard to raising revenues and allocating expenditures should be balanced in such a way that they can become more independent from central government transfers;
• Powers of municipal authorities regarding local economic and social policies should be increased.

For more information:

The full English version of the study "Regional Profiles: Indicators of Development 2012" will be available in the beginning of December 2012.

The goal of IME's team is to make all data and analyses understandable and useful for foreign investors, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders.

The availability of detailed information about the characteristics, condition and prospects of the regions of our country are an important prerequisite for the promotion of investment and the increase of transparency and accountability of public policies at the local level.

We have the pleasure to welcome you to the website of the first edition of "Regional Profiles: Indicators of Development 2012", prepared by the Institute for Market Economics and our partners from Microstat Analytics.

The Bulgarian edition of study was first presented on October 8th 2012.

About the Study

The study presents the socio-economical condition and development of the districts in Bulgaria on the basis of 57 indicators, organized in 8 different categories - economy, business environment, infrastructure, demography, education, health, natural environment, and social environment.

In addition to the 28 district profiles, the study includes thematic analyses on topics such as:

• Local Tax Policy;
• Main Trends in Primary and Secondary Education;
• Business Environment and Factors Determining Life Satisfaction in different districts;
• Cluster Analysis of the 28 districts in Bulgaria.

The study seeks answers to important questions such as:

• What makes some districts more developed and prosperous, and others less developed and poorer?
• Which are the districts with higher perception of corruption?
• Which are the districts with most favorable business environment in Bulgaria?
• What are the demograohic tendencies in each of the districts?
• Which districts follow a similar development patterns and why?

What's to come?

• Pressconference presenting the study;
• Uploading additional materials and data;
• Presenting the results from the study in different Bulgarian districts;
• Organizing round tables and discussions with stakeholders;
• Regular updates of the website;
• An English version of the website will be launched in the beginning of December 2012.

The project “Regional Profiles: Indicators of Development” is carried out with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation.