A Silesian perspective on small and medium-sized enterprises facing the challenges of the green economy

A Silesian perspective on small and medium-sized enterprises facing the challenges of the green economy

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Scientific studies confirm the importance of the economic condition of SMEs for the proper functioning of the economy. In the economic structure of both the European Union and Poland, SMEs are numerically dominant entities, employing more than two-thirds of the workforce.

The number of SMEs has been growing steadily in recent years in both Poland and the European Union. Enterprises operating in Poland generate almost three-quarters of Poland's Gross Domestic Product. An analysis of the share of enterprises in the creation of Gross Domestic Product by sector of the economy shows significant differences between large enterprises and SMEs. In the latter's case, the services sector is the most important, with a share of forty-four point five percent in Gross Domestic Product creation, compared to thirty-one point one percent for large companies. The second most important is trade (twenty-six point one percent - SME; eleven point two percent - large companies). On the other hand, in large companies, industry (fifty-five point three percent - large companies; seventeen point four percent - SME) has a visibly higher contribution to Gross Domestic Product creation than the SME sector, while construction (two point four percent - large companies; twelve point zero percent - SME) is the least important.

The particular importance of the SME is evident in the Silesian Voivodeship. In twenty twenty-three, employment in this sector accounted for sixty-two point four percent of the region's total workforce. In comparison, in nineteen eighty-nine, large heavy industry was significantly predominant. The Silesian Voivodeship generated twenty-five percent of the national income and was home to sixty-five coal mines, thirteen power plants, nineteen ironworks, two hundred fifty-five construction companies, eighty-two agricultural enterprises and almost thirty-five thousand small craft businesses. The excessive industrialisation of the region contributed to high levels of harmful emissions, which led to an ecological emergency at the time and continues to cause numerous problems today.

The political and economic transformation initiated in Poland in nineteen eighty-nine changed the economic situation of the Silesian Voivodeship. The long-standing domination of hard coal mining, metallurgy, and energy based on traditional energy generation sources led to the region's economic collapse and mass unemployment. The signing of the Europe Agreement on sixteenth December nineteen ninety-one set the framework for Poland's institutional and legal relations with the European Union. It triggered a slow change in the structure of the labour market. This forced entrepreneurs to look for new markets and the employed and jobseekers to acquire new qualifications and competencies. Pre-accession and aid funds supported the initiated transformation process.

Poland's accession to the European Union in two thousand four opened up the possibility of benefiting from a wide range of financial aid, contributing to the country's dynamic socio-economic development. The success of the decisions taken to stimulate entrepreneurship with aid funds is particularly evident in the Silesian Voivodeship, which, from a region in economic decline, has become one of the regions with the highest potential and Gross Domestic Product dynamics in Poland.

Data for twenty twenty-one shows that industry in the region accounts for about thirteen percent of the Gross Domestic Product and about seventeen percent of national industrial production, of which sixty-two percent is in the private sector. The region produces most of Poland's hard coal (approximately ninety-one percent), rolled products (approximately sixty-three percent), coke (approximately forty-two percent), crude steel (approximately sixty-eight percent), electricity (approximately nineteen percent) and passenger cars (approximately eighty-two percent). Coal mining, iron, zinc, and lead metallurgy, power generation, the electrical machinery, food and chemical industries and the automotive industry play a vital role in the region's development. In twenty twenty-two, the Silesian Voivodeship will generate twelve point one percent of Poland's Gross Domestic Product, ranking second in Poland after the Capital Region of Warsaw.

land's hard coal (approx. 91%), rolled products (approx. 63%), coke (approx. 42%), crude steel (approx. 68%), electricity (approx. 19%) and passenger cars (approx. 82%). Coal mining, iron, zinc, and lead met- allurgy, power generation, the electrical machinery, food and chemical industries and the automotive industry play a vital role in the region's development (Situation in the regional economy of the Silesian Voivodeship May 2021 - monitoring report, 2021). In 2022, the Silesian Voivodeship will generate 12.1% of Poland's GDP, ranking second in Poland after the Capital Region of Warsaw (cf. Table 2).

This article aims to identify the opinions of SME entrepreneurs operating in the Silesian Voivodeship on the prospects for further functioning of their companies, given the need to implement so-called green solutions. The focus was on issues relating to the level of employment as a consequence of implementing so-called green solutions in business models and identifying the opinions of SME entrepreneurs on the opportunities of the green economy in the Silesian Voivodeship.

The novelty of the article lies in filling a research gap regarding the identification of SME entrepreneurs' views on the potential opportunities for implementing green solutions, particularly in the context of public labour market institutions' support for measures to increase the implementation of green solutions funded by the Just Transition Fund. The article deepens the understanding of the challenges and highlights the need to implement green practices in a region with a traditionally strong industrial focus.

It also highlights the role of the various incentives offered under the Just Transition Fund to support entrepreneurs in implementing green change.

According to the authors, the study results are an essential addition to previous research on sustainability and entrepreneurship, which has mainly focused on the practices of large corporations, neglecting the perspective of smaller entities such as SMEs in Poland.

The article has a practical dimension. It focuses on analysing the opinions of SME entrepreneurs in the Silesian Voivodeship in the context of implementing green solutions. The main research questions concern the impact of employment level and the local level of green economy development on entrepreneurs' willingness to integrate sustainable practices into their business models.

The article will include the following sections: an introduction, which will explain the context of the changes in the economy and describe the characteristics of SMEs; a literature review, which will discuss the transformation in the Silesian region and provide a description of the Just Transition Fund; materials and methods, which will explain the research methods used; main results, which will present the findings, discuss their practical implications, and provide recommendations; and conclusions, which will summarize the key points.