Maciej Smętkowski

Regional Disparities in Central and Eastern European Countries: Trends, Drivers and Prospects

Growth in Central and East European countries (CEE) is territorially unbalanced, more so than in most other parts of the EU. The benefits of transformation in these countries have been unequally distributed among particular social groups and territories—with the emergence of highly educated and internationally successful professionals and entrepreneurs located mainly in metropolitan areas on the one hand, and structural unemployment, persistent poverty and social exclusion in peripheral regions on the other. These regional imbalances are characterised by a process of metropolisation that has privileged a handful of dynamic urban centres while exacerbating the structural problems of old industrial regions, vast rural areas and regions located on borders, and especially the EUs eastern borders. Different as they are in social, cultural and geographical terms, these declining or stagnating regions share general problems of economic peripherality and many negative effects of structural change, such as rural depopulation, ‘brain drain’, disinvestment and, frequently, below-average levels of socio-economic well-being. This polarised economic and territorial development within CEE poses challenges not only for the respective countries, but also for European cohesion.

Metropolis and its Region—New Relations in the Information Economy1

The new development paradigm has led to a new specialization of specific territorial entities and thus has influenced the mutual relations between them. In particular, these changes have influenced the relations between the metropolis and its hinterland. The contemporary metropolis concentrates innovative activities that have led to the development of flows within the network of the worlds large cities. As a result, its ties with the regional surroundings that offer mainly “simple” resources have became relatively weaker. This article outlines these new processes on the basis of an empirical study of three Polish metropolises: Warsaw, Poznań and the so-called Tricity (Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot).

Inwestycje w specjalnych strefach ekonomicznych. a przekształcenia strukturalne w przemyśle Polski

Zapoczątkowanej w Polsce w 1990 roku transformacji systemu gospodarczego, obejmującej przeksztalcenia instytucjonalno - ekonomiczne i restrukturyzacje gospodarki, towarzyszylo glebokie zalamanie produkcji przemyslowej. Spadek sily nabywczej spoleczenstwa, zmniejszenie zapotrzebowania na dobra inwestycyjne, konkurencja wyrobow pochodzących z importu oraz rozwiązanie Rady Wzajemnej Pomocy Gospodarczej, co w efekcie doprowadzilo do utraty tradycyjnych rynkow zbytu i zerwania wiezi kooperacyjnych, znacznie utrudnily proces przystosowywania sie polskiego przemyslu do nowych warunkow ekonomicznych.

Regional Development in Central and Eastern Europe

For almost one thousand years, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)1 has been a periphery of the continent. Moreover, over the course of history its peripherality has become deeper and more pronounced. In fact, it is only in recent years that the historical factors have worked in favour of this region.

The role of exogenous and endogenous factors in the growth of regions in Central and Eastern Europe: the metropolitan/non-metropolitan divide in the pre- and post-crisis era

ABSTRACT The aim of the paper is to analyse regional growth factors in Central and Eastern European Countries in the pre- and post-crisis era. The comparison is focused on core (metropolitan) and non-core (non-metropolitan) regions. The study found that the development processes of the analysed groups of regions were in many respects similar. Achieving a high level of development in the context of post-socialist transformation was possible mainly owing to exogenous factors such as the influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) and multimodal transport accessibility. In the case of endogenous factors, the number of small- and medium-sized enterprises per capita was of cardinal importance for a high level of development, but it was no guarantee of fast growth dynamics in non-core regions. The main differences between the core and non-core regions included the role of human capital and migrations as metropolitan regions represented growth poles which trained qualified specialists and served as destinations for migrants from non-core regions. However, the share of people with tertiary education played an important role in the development process of non-core regions. The crisis strengthened the role of exogenous growth factors, that is, the role of FDI inflow as well as the role of EU funds.

Wybrane przestrzenne aspekty restrukturyzacji przemysłu w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej przed kryzysem gospodarczym 2008 roku

The aim of the article is to assess selected spatial aspects of industrial restructuring in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries in the run-up to the 2008 economic crisis. The study includes both a comparative analysis of deindustrialisation processes at the national level as well as changes in the importance of the industrial sector in the NUTS3 regions of the CEE countries. In particular, the analysis enabled to identify regions that, on the one hand, achieved economic success measured by GDP growth in comparison to the national average, and on the other hand regions that noted an increase in the importance of industry in the gross value added structure. In three selected regions an in-depth qualitative research was conducted, aimed at identifying development factors, including the role of institutions and external intervention in the economic restructuring processes. The study shows that the scale of success of regions that underwent a successful restructuring of industry was relatively small. In the development processes of the regions exogenous factors played a decisive role, in particular the inflow of foreign capital. In turn, the importance of endogenous factors, such as the growth of innovativeness of enterprises or the development of small and medium-sized Maciej Smetkowski Uniwersytet Warszawski, Centrum Europejskich Studiow Regionalnych i Lokalnych (EUROREG), Polska University of Warsaw, Centre for European Regional and Local Studies (EUROREG), Poland Dorota Celinska-Janowicz Uniwersytet Warszawski, Centrum Europejskich Studiow Regionalnych i Lokalnych (EUROREG), Polska University of Warsaw, Centre for European Regional and Local Studies (EUROREG), Poland enterprises was relatively small. What was identified as a particularly important factor was cooperation between the main stakeholders of the regional and local development, resulting in properly formulated strategies of the territorial structures’ development.

Deprywacja społeczno-ekonomiczna w skali mikro w Polsce: badania pilotażowe w powiecie sandomierskim.

Norweski Mechanizmu Finansowy na lata 2009-2014. Projektu predefiniowany: „Ograniczanie spolecznych nierowności w zdrowiu” realizowanego ramach Programu Operacyjnego PL 13.

Zróżnicowanie i dynamika rozwoju regionów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej w okresie prosperity i kryzysu

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the scale of regional disparities and the dynamics of regional development in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). The article attempts to answer the following research questions: a) does regional development of the CEE countries corroborate the J. G. Williamson (1965) hypothesis concerning the relationship between the level of national income and the extent of regional disparities, b) what are the main reasons for changing the scale of regional differences, and c) how economic crisis has affected the dynamics of regional development. Empirical studies have shown a decrease in the rate of regional divergence with increasing income levels in different countries. This occurred under the conditions of regional economic structure petrification – especially after excluding capital city regions from the analysis – which may indicate a balance between spread and backwash effects in the period of economic prosperity – especially in the years 2004–2008. The outcome of the first phase of the economic crisis was quite patchy regarding regional development pattern, but with noticeable better adaptability of majority of capital city regions.