Global Journal of Business, Economics and Management Socio-economic analysis of development of regions

The quality of life is affected by many factors, which can be combined according to the similar attributes into some dimensions. A major impact on quality of life has a feeling of security. The quality of life is directly related to the development of regions that can be examined through subjective and objective indicators as well as the security situation. The paper is going to deal with selected socio-economic indicators of regional development that directly affect the safety of citizens, and therefore their quality of life. There will be evaluated primary socio-economic indicators of regional development such as regional gross domestic product, the level of economic activity, the rate of regional employment and unemployment, the average regional wages. Trough comparison of the above indicators can be seen if the qualities of life in Slovak regions have been positive and what is the position of regions in terms of development.


Introduction
The development of society has a major impact on the quality of citizens' life.The factor that positively affects the quality of life is especially economic growth.On the other side, the current geopolitical situation and the problems with illegal migration have substantially negative impact on the sense of security and thus on the quality of life.A sense of security is only a subjective factor that cannot be accurately measured.According to Stofko and Stofkova (2011), a crucial indicator of quality of life in addition to the security situation is development of society.The development is possible (as security situation), measured by objective indicators that can be merged into dimensions according to their common features.
Since that quality of life is closely linked with economic development, it is necessary to specify the area of interest -such as: Does the quality of life among countries vary?Is the quality of life different among regions, districts or the cities and municipalities in the Slovakia?The result of the examination of the quality of life in the regions and thus the regional socio-economic indicators is the knowledge of regional disparities on which it is possible to propose measures to decrease regional disparities and ensure equal regional development.

Quality of life as a prerequisite for regional development
The quality of life is a set of factors that influence the comfort of life.Quality of life characterizes the side of life associated with satisfying material and spiritual needs of people.It is also a part of the social, group and individual life which cannot be clearly quantified (Wishlade, 1997).Every person perceives these factors subjectively, causing the plurality of views on whether the quality of life is rising or decreasing.A problem in the subjective assessment of quality of life is in factors that person is able to realize, what the hierarchy of these factors is and how the factors are being evaluated.

Quality of life dimensions
The starting point for examining the quality of life is to study its dimensions, each of which is characterized by a certain level through a number of objective indicators.The decisive parameter for the selection of indicators is also the object of interest.For examining the quality of life at the regional level or at the district level the objective indicators can be grouped into six dimensions (Massam, 2002):  The demographic dimension -life expectancy, infant mortality.
 Information-educational dimension -the share of population by achieving the highest education, households with Internet connection.
 Security dimension -the level of crime.
 A dimension of material comfort and social security -employment index, apartment size.
 The household equipment dimension -the proportion of permanently occupied dwellings.
 The environmental dimension -the proportion of forest land, the share of population connected to the sewage system.
It is said that the quality of life is affected by more factors than the above mentioned.Impacts on quality of life have definitely the availability of medical facilities, schools, number of enterprises and many other factors.Their omission from their dimension is the proof that it is never possible to cover all the parameters guiding the quality of life.

Regional development
Generally, the development can be regarded as progressive growth, expanding or enlarging.In Regional studies the regional development can be seen especially in the context of economic development.The essential element of development may be considered as economic growth; however, these two terms together cannot be equated (Maier 1998).
The basis for the definition of the region is its geographic definition.The most appropriate definition of the region depends on the purpose for which it is intended (for administration, planning, policy, etc.).In the Slovakia, regions are considered traditional compact areas.The decisive definition provides Act no.539/2008 Coll. on of regional development support.It defines the region as a territorial unit defined according to the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics -NUTS (fr.La Nomenclature des unites territorial statistics).The development of regions and increase in their competitiveness often leads to the formation of regional differences (disparities).The most common causes of the regional disparities are insufficient use of available resources, different amenities, natural and historical conditions, demographic and educational characteristics etc.The consequences of regional disparities are reflected in the economic, social and political situation (Betakova, 2014).Bearing in mind these consequences the state aims to suppress the regional disparities through the regional policy and thus ensure balanced development.

Analysis of regional development according to selected socio-economic indicators
The monitoring of socio-economic level is determined to seek the effects of implementation of strategic and planning documents at national, regional and local level.This information is used to promote the region, inform the public and is used as basis for the development.Particular problem of assessing the socio-economic level of regions, resulting mainly from the principle of ensuring sustainable development, is the issue of obtaining reliable data and evaluation selected indicators.
A limiting factor in the selection of appropriate indicators is limited by the availability of suitable data.Selected indicators must provide a view of the position of regions within the regional structure of the Slovakia.For these reasons, in order to carry out the analysis of the regional development, it is only appropriate to use the following socio-economic indicators: unemployment rate, gross domestic product per inhabitant in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), net monthly income per person, number of enterprises and self-employed persons (Vyrostova, 2010).
Monitoring the progress of mentioned indicators within the NUTS 3 regions (Self-governed regions) creates conditions for their future examination in the context of security indicators.For the measurement of regional development and regional disparities, there are several statistical tools.It includes the Gini coefficient, which was originally conceived as an instrument for measuring income inequality (Byrtusova, 2015).It ranges from 0 (absolute equality) to 1 (absolute inequality).
In addition to the Gini coefficient, it is possible to express the differences among variables using a statistical tool -standard deviation.From standard deviation can be derived coefficient of variation, which is used in this paper.The coefficient of variation is a relative measure of variability.It is used to compare the variability of files with different variable.It is calculated as ratio of standard deviation and the arithmetic mean.

Development of selected indicators in regions of the Slovakia
The unemployment rate is measured as a ratio of number of registered unemployed people to the total number of economically active population.Table 2 shows the unemployment rate in the Slovak regions.0,4546 0,4785 0,5020 0,5305 0,4053 0,3186 0,3547 0,3588 0,3345 0,3264 0,3339 Gini coefficient 0,2406 0,2542 0,2648 0,2769 0,2164 0,1641 0,1872 0,1893 0,1758 0,1722 0,1758 The unemployment rate in the Slovakia in the reporting period declined, while the minimum was reached in 2008.Subsequently, the unemployment rate increased slightly and now again gradually declines.According to coefficient of variation, the regional differentiation over the last five years is not deepening, and is stabilized at around 3.33 values.Also according to Gini coefficient the regional differences are not deepening because values of that coefficient have a downward trend.Gross domestic product (GDP) is the most common indicator by which it is possible to measure the degree of economy development and living standards.Its importance is underlined by its use by the European Union to calculate the level of regional development.Regions ranked by the European Union according to GDP figures as undeveloped may receive funding to reduce regional disparities.According to Hofreiter (2014), regional GDP is calculated as the sum of value added of all types of economic activity or institutional sectors and taxes on production in the region.Because of the different currencies in countries for international comparison is expressed in purchasing power parity (PPP).Regional GDP per inhabitant is the ratio of two indicators -the average regional GDP and population permanently living in the region.Table 2 shows the development of regional GDP per inhabitant in PPP in the Slovak regions.0,4939 0,4982 0,5655 0,5378 0,5492 0,5226 0,5761 0,5635 0,5805 0,5612 0,5710 Gini coefficient 0,1961 0,1997 0,2266 0,2306 0,2314 0,2165 0,2322 0,2305 0,2362 0,2292 0,2282 The highest values of regional GDP per inhabitant in PPP reaches the Bratislava region.At the opposite side is Presov region.The coefficient of variation points out that regional difference is increasing.Likewise, the Gini coefficient indicates a slight increase of regional differences but its value is low.Therefore, there is not the dramatic increase of regional differences.Net monthly income per inhabitant belongs to the economic indicators of regional disparities.It is an indicator that incorporates income from employment and private business, social income and other income (e.g.incomes from property, loans).Table 3 follows the development of net monthly income per inhabitant in € in regions of Slovakia.
Table 3. Development of net monthly income per inhabitant in regions of Slovakia in € (own elaboration according to (Statistical, 2009(Statistical, , 2014))).
Socio-economic situation of the region and the business environment may be also characterized by the development of the number of enterprises and self-employed persons.An enterprise is considered to be a legal person who carries out continuous work in order to make profit.Self-employed person is a natural or legal person who operates owns business.Table 4 shows the development of the number of enterprises and Table 5 the development of the number of self-employed persons in the regions of Slovakia.
The number of enterprises for the reported period throughout the Slovakia increased, by almost 120,000.In the Bratislava region more than tripled, so the Bratislava region in this aspect is unequivocal on the first position.In the last 5 years Trencin region holds the last place.Very strong regional differentiation indicates steady increase of values of the coefficient of variation.Slightly increasing Gini coefficient also points to the increasing disparities.Figure 2 graphically illustrates the complex development of regional disparities, as was calculated by the coefficient of variation and the Gini coefficient in the regions of Slovakia.In terms of regional differences can be noted that in 2010 was a larger decrease, however just in terms of the unemployment rate.The deepening of regional disparities mainly occurs in terms of the number of enterprises indicator.Regional differences are also slightly rising in terms of regional GDP per inhabitant in PPP.Regional differences are greatest precisely according to these two indicators.The smallest regional differences can be noted in terms of number of self-employed persons and in terms of the amount of net monthly salary.

Conclusion
Research was aimed to address the issue of quality of life, which is becoming very attractive for many scientific disciplines.Yet there is still a significant content fragmentation and absence of a comprehensive interdisciplinary approach.However, the quality of life can be divided into the dimensions which can be further examined.Various dimensions are interrelated and it is necessary to seek their common features.
The social dimension and the economic dimension of quality of life are connected to each other to such an extent that sometimes it is difficult, if not impossible, to find differences between them.The unemployment rate, regional GDP per inhabitant, number of enterprises and self-employed persons as well as net monthly income may be included among the indicators that have significant influence on these dimensions.
The paper deals with the analysis of these indicators in terms of NUTS 3 regions in Slovakia, also with the comparison of individual regions and subsequently with the examination of regional disparities with respect to these indicators.Bratislava region has the best position, in the long term, out of all indicators from eight regions.Presov region is in last place, in the long term, following the the regional GDP per inhabitant and net monthly income per inhabitant.The number of self-employed persons in long term is lowest in the Kosice region.
On the disparities in development, the regional disparities are only slightly growing in the number of enterprises and the regional GDP per inhabitant.Regional differences are greatest in these two indicators.Nearly zero-regional differences are observed in the number of self-employed persons and in the amount of net monthly income per inhabitant.A significant decrease of regional differences in the unemployment rate was observed in 2010.In the near future the public authorities should seek ways to reduce the regional disparities.Tax breaks and other support should be provided particularly to companies that would be show interest to operate in other regions than Bratislava region.This would also influence the regional GDP per inhabitant.
NUTS classification is currently governed by the European Parliament and the Council no.1059/2003.The NUTS classification consists of at least three levels of NUTS 1, NUTS 2 and NUTS 3. Member States may use additional levels -LAU 1 and LAU 2. In the Slovak Republic, this classification is governed by the Decree of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic no.438/2004 Coll.According to this Decree, in the Slovakia there are three regional and two local levels.Fig. 1 depicts the names of regions of NUTS level and the number of districts (LAU 1) and municipalities (LAU 2).

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.NUTS classification in the Slovakia (Elaborated by authors).

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Development of regional disparities according to Coefficient of variation and Gini coefficient (Elaborated by authors).

Table 2 .
Development of regional GDP per inhabitant in PPP in regions of Slovakia (own elaboration according to(Statistical, 2009(Statistical,  , 2014))).

Table 4 .
Development of the number of enterprises in the Slovak regions (own elaboration according to(Statistical, 2009(Statistical,  ,  2014))  ))