Citation: HOYLER, M., KLOOSTERMAN, R.C. and SOKOL, M., 2008. Polycentric puzzles emerging mega-city regions seen through the lens of advanced producer services. Regional Studies, 42 (8), pp.

Following the collapse of state-socialism a decade ago, Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) opted for democracy and market economy. There was a widespread belief that transition to a market economy via neo-liberal 'shock therapy' would lead to a quick closure of the wealth gap with the West. A decade later, however, neo-liberal expectations of convergence under market conditions never materialized. Instead, 'New Europe' has been experiencing fragmentation and growing disparity between 'West' and 'East' and also within the 'East' itself. In examining regional patterns, and building on the strengths of institutional and 'radical' approaches, this article challenges neo-liberal accounts of uneven development in Eastern Europe. It argues that diverging economic trajectories should be understood in the light of the structural legacies of both the state-socialist and pre-socialist past and the way these are exposed to, and interact with, international political economy.Central And Eastern Europe Transition Neo-LIBERALISM International Political Economy Uneven Development Structural Legacies,

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This paper has two interrelated aims. First, it attempts to sketch a preliminary map of economic winners and losers to highlight the emerging economic geographies of the coronavirus pandemic. Second, it aims to explore the links between these emerging economic geographies and the processes of ‘financialisation’, drawing on the concept of ‘financial chains’. Regarding the first aim, the paper argues that the pandemic‐induced crisis will exacerbate social inequalities and deepen uneven development at multiple geographical scales. Regarding the second aim, the paper argues that the ‘financialisation’ perspective in general, and the concept of ‘financial chains’ in particular, provide useful insights into the crisis and its uneven effects, by shedding light on the complex web of flows of value and power relations established/emerging between the prospective winners and losers. It also highlights the prominent role of debt and debt‐based financial chains in shaping economic geographies in times of major global crisis.