O14 - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of TechnologyReturn

Radovan Richta was a Czech academic, philosopher, sociologist, prognostic, and head of an interdisciplinary research team. He specialised in the issues of the scientific and technological revolution and its social and human contexts. Both in the East and the West, he was famous for the work of Civilization on the Crossroad, which in many ways surpassed its time. Richta (and his team of scientists) may perhaps be considered the predecessors of the Roman Club. His link is highly inspirational for the current reflection on the so-called fourth industrial revolution and civilizational milestones as well as system changes.

Cyberspace has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives. Due to the Internet of Things, it has permeated the whole of society. Nevertheless, cyberspace on its own still tends to be neglected in academia, especially in social sciences. This article aims to contribute to the debate over whether cyberspace may be labelled as global public goods. First, the essential economic theories dealing with public goods are presented forming a solid basis for the subsequent analysis and stating the basic conditions for the evaluation of cyberspace as global public goods. Second, a basic cyberspace model is introduced dividing it into three different layers - the physical layer, the application level, and the level of information. Third, an analysis is conducted testing each layer for the legitimacy of global public goods categorisation. Fourth, a final synthesis provides the answer to the question of whether cyberspace can be categorised as global public goods. Based on the findings in the analytical part of this paper, it has been concluded that cyberspace may be, although with several reservations, categorised as global public goods.

Using the example of the USA, the article deals with the issue of competitiveness. It defines various approaches to this phenomenon and analyses its individual factors. Additionally, it focuses on the differences in the USA evaluation with regards to their competitiveness in "external" and "internal" dimension. Furthermore, the paper tries to asses the growing influence of the U.S. new production factor: shale gas utilization. The cheap gas could play an important role by cost reduction. Based on the Global Competitiveness Index the country competitiveness has decreased, e.g. measured by the export performance of knowledge-intensive branches. However, the new economic sources, such as shale gas, promise progress in the restoration and changes of production. Nevertheless, in author's opinion the general cost reduction of manufacturing production itself with utilizing shale gas is not sufficient. To achieve the real efficiency and competitiveness growth in the USA the positive cost effects need to be projected into the development of the knowledge-intensive branches as well as into their product export.

The article deals with the issue of industry reallocation among the world's countries. Originally, the core of manufacturing production was situated in the most developed centres. After the 1970s, under globalisation and the impact of structural crises, part of production has moved to developing countries. The industries have been adjusted to new conditions in the developed countries and the share of industrial production has decreased considerably in favour of services. The article addresses the question whether a return of manufacturing production to developed countries is possible and which factors stimulate/inhibit the process. Finally, the desired effects of the potential reindustrialisation are mentioned (employment growth, technological progress, development of new industries, etc.) including the role of the state in their stimulation. Nevertheless, the author comes to the conclusion that despite the tendencies towards reindustrialisation described, the existing obstacles will not allow a mass return of industrial production to developed countries.