Mr Norbert Jaworski (p), Prof Tomasz Kopczewski

We introduce a new spatial competition index that blends the classical Herfindahl–Hirschman Index (HHI) with ideas from ecological competition. The metric is density-aware: it uses Voronoi catchments to assign population to the nearest unit (e.g., store or school) and summarises concentration at both the unit and type levels. We also extend the index to separate inter- and intra-type competition. As a proof of concept, we use simulations to test the behaviour of the index for different numbers of units and population-density schemes. The simulations show intuitive patterns: concentration rises when units are sited unevenly or when people are clustered; doing both amplifies the effect. Case studies from Warsaw—Żabka as a monopoly-like network, the Biedronka–Lidl duopoly, and public primary schools—are based on real data and serve as an empirical proof of concept. We also frame location choice as a practical optimisation problem for planners (minimise concentration) and managers (strengthen a focal type), showing how a density-aware approach changes the diagnosis and guides siting decisions. Results are robust across data and modelling choices and are reproducible with open data.

Mr Rahmi Can Yamanoglu (p)

This paper investigates the relationship between collective intellectual property rights, geographical indications and collective trademarks, and regional innovation, proxied by individual trademark registrations, in the EU wine industry. Drawing on Ostrom's commons governance framework, we argue that the same collective IP instrument can function as either a coordination device enabling innovation or a rent-seeking mechanism inhibiting it, depending on regional institutional conditions. Using a Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood estimator with high-dimensional fixed effects and a Bartik-style instrumental variable based on viticultural suitability, we find that the average negative association between GI registration and trademark activity masks a fundamental institutional asymmetry: GIs are associated with significantly lower innovative output in weak-governance regions but with significantly higher output where formal institutional quality is strong. Collective trademarks exhibit distinct dynamics, showing positive effects primarily in peripheral regions with limited alternative institutional support. A semantic novelty analysis using BERT-based sentence embeddings further reveals that formal institutions and social trust serve structurally different governance functions, while formal institutions promote individual differentiation in market signalling, trust facilitates collective convergence around shared reputational conventions. These findings reframe the policy debate from whether CIPRs are good or bad for innovation to the conditions under which they enable it, with implications for place-sensitive IP policy across heterogeneous European regions.

Ms Katalin Szabó (p)

In the last thirty years, while the public debates about rurality have centered on economic decline and unemployment, these areas are still described as the primary space for the agri-food value creation. From a socio-economic perspective, this kind of specialization should not be seen as a negative trend.
This study analyses the impact of agri-food firms on their regions and subjective perception of peripherality. Drawing on ongoing field research and the functional characteristics of the agri-food value chain (AFVC), I identify six categories of firms: input suppliers, agricultural producers, food or beverage processors, dual-profile agri-food producers, wholesalers, and multinational branch plants. To assess territorial embeddedness, the study evaluates five key dimensions (Economic, Social, Institutional, Scientific-Educational, and Environmental-Infrastructural) through methodological triangulation: (1) Academic literature and locally authored scholarly monographs; (2) Annual financial reports of the firms; (3) Semi-structured interviews. The geographical scope of this study is the Mezőtúr and Szarvas districts. Although they belong to different counties (Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Békés), these regions are linked by Körös River in the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain.
According to the results so far, the investigated regions show two distinct behaviours. Firms in the Mezőtúr district have become highly dependent on global input suppliers and large food/beverage corporations. In contrast, the Szarvas district has more diverse actors within the AFVCs, although these actors currently operate in parallel rather than cooperating with each other.