No abstract

Spatial distribution of exporters only recently has attracted the attention of researchers, while the location of economic activity as such has been subject of profound analysis for a long time. Regions have become more open and thus vulnerable to external shocks. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of exporters in the population of firms is one of the top priorities of regions' economic policy agenda, as it improves competitiveness and overall productivity. Literature overview shows an important gap, which is insufficient consideration of the role of ownership, as regards the determinants of the spatial distribution of exporters. The study identifies the differences between the determinants of spatial location of foreign-owned exporters (FOEs) and domestic-owned exporters (DOEs), in particular the role of metropolis, the proximity to infrastructure and the consequences of historical factors and thus the path dependency. The FOEs and DOEs differ in their location preferences. In particular, our results indicate that FOEs pay more attention to proximity to infrastructure and are more susceptible to the presence of agglomeration externalities in the vicinity of metropolitan areas. In addition, historical factors affect the spatial distribution of exporters, especially if the interaction of path dependency and infrastructure endowment is introduced.

Research background: The increasing role of foreign direct investments (FDI) in global, national, regional, and local economies draws the public’s attention to the criteria utilised by foreign investors in undertaking locational decisions, owing to the mostly stimulating character of these kinds of investments.  Purpose of the article: The aim of the article is to identify the local determinants of FDI distribution. Particular attention is put on the role of distance to: (i) various transport endowments; (ii) next special economic zone; (iii) different national borders, among other motives studied in empirical papers. Methods: An important value added over the existing studies is the use of continuous variables representing distances (in km) to selected points of interest (e.g., airport) or minimum distances to lines (i.e., border, road) instead of dummy variables indicating whether particular infrastructure endowment is present in a region. The estimations were run in STATA 14.2 software with the use of a negative binomial approach. Findings & Value added: The results present new empirical evidence on FDI determinants witnessed at a local level of analysis (LAU 1), fitting into the other research done at a higher level of data aggregation (NUTS 2, NUTS 3), signalling high intra-regional inequalities and the role of: (i) relative distance to various infrastructure endowments; (ii) heterogeneous border effects; and (iii) the importance of close proximity to special economic zones. Given the presence of counties’ auto selection process (i.e., better developed, endowed, urbanised, favourably located) done by FDI investors, we formulate universal implications in terms of FDI promotion policy.

The aim of this paper is to present the spatial distribution of openness to foreign trade assessed at the local level (LAU 1,poviats) in Poland, between 2005 and 2012, with particular reference to its two determinants: activity of foreign-owned enterprises (FOEs) and functioning of special economic zones (SEZs). With the use of data from different sources, including the foreign trade statistics for the Polish regions, constituting a set of indicators on openness to foreign trade, we deliberate on the determinants and the character of regional openness, as well as the quality of the proxies used in order to assess their spatial distribution. Our results indicate high regional dissimilarities in terms of export activity, correlated with the broader picture of regional inequalities. The role of FOEs has been crucial in determining the spatial distribution of exports. As regards the SEZs, their sole contribution increased significantly during the time span. In the times of the world financial crisis, the export performance diversity of poviats increased temporarily but diminished afterwards.

Abstract. The main aim of this paper is to present the concept of regional distance as a measure of economic diversity at the regional level. Additionally, the paper is devoted to the identification of regional inequalities in Poland, based on the metric presented. Estimates of the regional distance between specific regions (NUTS 2) and the mean level of development of the national economy or Mazowieckie Voivodship (the region with the highest GDP per capita in Poland) were based on calculations conducted using logarithmic equations. Two different distances were calculated: (a) the mean number of years required to achieve the present reference area level of development, (b) the mean number of years necessary to achieve the reference area GDP per capita, taking into consideration the growth rate of the reference area. The empirical example of regional distance application revealed significant inequalities between regions of Poland at NUTS 2 level.