Concepto y enfoque de gestión por competencias

Two local public goods, a high level of human capital and favorable conditions for local businesses, were both poorly provided due to interaction problems that ham- pered local inhabitants from exploiting gains from cooperation.

Inhabitants improve their skills in order to be well-prepared for jobs that provide them with a sufficient income. Educational initiatives such as seminars, vocational trainings, etc., which assist inhabitants in improving their skills have to be financed jointly. However, those joint investments entail free-riding options since inhabitants could directly (by attending workshops, trainings, etc.) or indirectly (by benefiting from the outcomes of a higher level of human capital like an increase of social activi- ties in the region without attending those workshops, etc.) benefit from investments in local human capital without contributing to its enhancement. Governmental regulations which coordinate a joint provision of education facilities through tax legislation attenuate the problem. In the case of Dębrzno, as assessed by respondents, public facilities often did not prepare the inhabitants according to the requirements of the local labor market. Public education programs thus were lacking knowledge about the conditions on the local labor market and did not respond to its needs. This even constituted a disincentive for local inhabitants, as they did not expect to find a job after they attended such vocational trainings. Therefore, they often stayed away from trainings, seminars or workshops. Additionally, there were no local enter- prises which invested in the education of labor since there was a general lack of new investors in the region. Hence, although all inhabitants of Dębrzno would benefit from an improvement of the local level of human capital (since, for example, the attractiveness of the commune for new investors would increase), such investments remain absent and a large share of low-skilled inhabitants have never attended any workshops to improve their skills. That is, if every inhabitant had improved his/her skills as well as contributed to the provision of local educational facilities, the local level of human capital would have improved and gains from cooperation would have been exploited by all inhabitants.

With respect to the favorable conditions for local businesses, a similar interaction problem exists. Banks do not provide credits, as local entrepreneurs often lack suf- ficient collateral. Hence, a purely market-based provision of credits is very limited. However, access to capital could be facilitated with local funds funded by entre- preneurs and other local inhabitants who pay in a regular contribution that is given, in whole or in parts, to each contributor in rotation so that every member of such a rotating credit association is able to receive some funds for investments. Local entrepreneurs could also commonly vouch for credits from commercial banks, which would also ease their access to capital. However, although all inhabitants, or at least all local entrepreneurs, benefit from the existence of such institutional arrange- ments, the latter have not emerged in Dębrzno. The improvement of market access

for local businesses also requires collective action in terms of a joint marketing con- cept, local labels, or a common local development strategy for businesses. Both access to capital and access to markets can only be provided through ex- change. Inhabitants have to contribute their own shares in terms of working time or funds. However, since they are not able to anticipate other inhabitants’ contributions as an institutional arrangement which coordinates individuals’ contributions, and excluding free-riding is not an option, gains from cooperation in terms of improved access to capital or markets cannot be exploited. According to interviewees from Dębrzno, the following three reasons in particular hamper inhabitants from joining local common activities to improve human capital, as well as to improve access to capital and markets for local businesses:

1) Lack of trust between people. "Such a thing [trust] does not exist in this town.

It is getting worse and worse," (D-15) an interviewee assessed. According to

the local respondents, local trust diminished as a result of the income disparities that have greatly increased between local households since the early 1990s. Regarding this issue, a respondent stated: "Basically no, they [inhabitants] do not trust each other. In situations with that high of an unemployment rate, people do not trust others who are in a better position than they are," (D-10). A local

entrepreneur answered similarly: "With respect to trust it is a little bit more dif- ficult in this region. Those people, who are in better positions, who have a good job and who have an income, they do trust each other. However, those who are frustrated because they are unemployed for many years already, and who are now in a very bad financial situation, those people do not trust in others," (D-27). 2) Expectation that the state will provide all services. A further constraint for

common initiatives on local public goods provision is seen in the attitude of the local population. During the socialist era, the state-owned farms and the military base provided many social services, and some people still expect government bodies to provide different public services. A representative of the local social aid center held this belief: "However, the problem is to change inhabitants’ atti- tude. They still have this attitude from the socialist era. They still think that they do not have to take care of anything since everything will be provided to them," (D-09). Another interviewee stated that local inhabitants took for granted

"[…] that everything will be provided to them. And now, they do not know how to find themselves in the new reality and on the free market," (D-32). 3) Lack of local leaders. Some interviewees also mentioned a lack of local leaders

as a reason for the absence of social activities. A representative of the local labor agency said: "Maybe they [inhabitants] would [work in social projects] but in this region, there is a lack of persons who can organize and manage those projects. There are no leaders whom people could follow. Basically, people have ideas and they are willing to do something, but nobody starts the initiative,"

actions. What is important is that somebody gives the idea and manages the ini- tiative, then, people will work with them," (D-33). A short story told by a local

entrepreneur explains the situation obviously: "During the 1970s, we had a dentist in Dębrzno who was very interested in boxing. He managed a club for boxers and promoted boxing in Dębrzno very much. So much that we even organized the championship for the district. However, the dentist then moved to another city and I told him: 'If you move out of Dębrzno, the boxing association will collapse.' And he answered: 'No, that won’t happen. I leave many people here who will take care on everything.' But one year after he left, everything was gone," (D-32).