La figura del Director de Proyecto

The commune of Dębrzno is located in the southwest of the Pomorskie voivod- ship. It is a predominantly rural region, and although about 92 % of the commune's area is agricultural land or forest, agriculture is not the main employer in the region. In Dębrzno 15 % of all employed persons find their job in the agricultural sector, 25 % work for industrial companies, and about 60 % are employed in the service sector. The official unemployment rate for the district of Człuchów, where Dębrzno is located, was 37 % in 2005. According to a representative of the local govern- ment, the unofficial unemployment rate for Dębrzno exceeds 45 %. This high un- employment rate is mainly a result of the immense number of workers laid-off in the commune in the early 1990s. During that time the state-owned farms, a local military base, and various other state-owned enterprises, such as a brick company, were dissolved and left a large share of the local inhabitants without a job. The loss of jobs had a strong impact on local economic development. In 2002, Dębrzno was characterized by a low average income equal to 78 % of the Polish average and a net-migration rate exceeding -4 %.

The unfavorable economic situation and the high unemployment rate had lasting impacts on the social life and the social activities in the commune. A local teacher summarized the situation as follows: "The biggest problem in this region is unem- ployment. After people became unemployed all the other problems appeared. People are poor […]"(D-05). Inhabitants from Dębrzno and the surrounding region strongly depend on the income they receive from employment since the govern- mental assistance for unemployed people is very low and inhabitants of Dębrzno do not have small peasant farms for subsistence farming like in southern regions of Poland.

According to many respondents from Dębrzno, the constantly high unemployment rate in the commune strongly results from two major determinants: the lack of skilled labor, which can be identified as lacking human capital, and the unfavorable condi- tions for local businesses. Both determinants were presented as local public goods in Section 2.1.

A high share of local inhabitants are poorly educated and thus only qualified for simple jobs. After the Second World War, because of the jobs and flats offered by the state-owned farms and the military base, people from the south of Poland moved to Dębrzno. Generally, those people who moved to Dębrzno were poorly trained: they often only had primary education and did not receive any specific vocational training. In the early 1990s, as those people lost their jobs they could not find any

other. As an interviewee stated: "… some of them went back [to the south of Poland]. However, many of them […] bought their flats in Dębrzno. And since they had their freehold flats in Dębrzno and they were not able to sell them, even if they wanted to go to some other places, they could not move. They were also not sufficiently educated to find a job somewhere else," (D-01).

Another local public good poorly provided in Dębrzno are favorable conditions for local businesses. Rather, there are barriers that hamper young people or people with entrepreneurial spirit from starting-up their own business in Dębrzno. Above all, there is a lack of funding. A local shop-owner said: "People here have ideas but there are barriers. Capital is the highest barrier. People have not enough money to invest," (D-11). For the majority of local inhabitants, bank credits are not a

viable option. An interviewee held the belief that: "Credits are too expensive and also the application procedures are too difficult," (D-11). Often credits are only

available at unfavorable conditions. An inhabitant who invested in his agro-tourism farm said: "If you want to start a business there will be nobody whom you could ask for a credit. […] The only credit they offered us was a medium-term loan for eight years. But almost everywhere is written, that after eight years the earliest investments in agro-tourism will provide you with first benefits. So how should we repay the credit?" (D-04) The same interviewee further mentioned: "Young

people have not yet produced anything. They are not able to provide any guaran- tees. So how should they take any credits to start-up a business?" (D-04) Also,

representatives of the local cooperative bank confirmed that guarantees are always required. A further barrier for local businesses is seen in the lacking access to markets. "You can try and develop but there has to be a demand for the products or services you offer. If there is no demand you cannot do anything, you must sell the products you offer," (D-23). This quote describes a major problem that existing

enterprises in Dębrzno face.

Hence, the situation on the local labor market can be characterized by two aspects. On the one hand, there is a large share of local inhabitants who are under-qualified, long-term unemployed, and of an older age. These people will hardly adjust to new challenges on the labor market. However, the lack of a qualified labor force con- stitutes a disincentive for larger companies to invest in the region. Finally, new jobs stay away and the region remains poor. This will, on the other hand, reduce the market chances for small- and medium-sized businesses. Further, younger inhabi- tants who are interested in opening businesses and in improving their skills are lacking access to capital and markets, which forces them to leave the region rather than to invest time and funds in new business start-ups.

4.3.2 Factors hampering the improvement of local human capital and local