Regional Growth and National Development: Transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the Regional Kuznets Curve in the East and the West

Abstract

Regional disparities in Central and Eastern Europe rose substantially after 1990. Still, prima facie evidence of beta-convergence is often found in the CEE data. To reconcile this apparent paradox, we sketch out and test empirically a hybrid model of regional growth that draws on the regional Kuznets curve and incorporates aspects of cumulative causation and neoclassical convergence. In both CEE and the 'old' EU15, regional convergence is strongly linked to the level of national development, non-linearly. But while in the EU15 convergence speeds-up at intermediate/high levels of development, in CEE we find divergence at intermediate levels of national development and no significant return to convergence thereafter. Although this may show that overall development levels are not sufficient yet to mobilise regional convergence, it is also possible that nonconvergence is attributable to centripetal forces instigated by the process of transition.

Spatial Inequalities and Economic Growth

“…Moreover, the spatial impact of trade is found to be greater in poorer countries, meaning that, while trade on the whole may have a beneficial effect for aggregate economic performance in the emerging world, the poorest regions in the poorest countries -the poorest of the poorare likely to lose out from greater engagement in international trade. This result, which is also consistent with the evidence found by Monastiriotis (2014) for the case of the CEECs, holds after several robustness checks addressing the potential omission of explanatory variables, to alternative definitions of spatial inequalities or to influential observations (outliers). The empirical evidence provided in the paper raises a number of important questions which the authors propose as possible extensions for future research (for instance, what are the causal mechanisms that account for the positive link between trade and inequalities; and is this link also influenced by the actual composition of trade?)…”

“…The first three papers look at the mechanics of growth, each focusing at economic processes occurring at a different spatial scale: at the sub-national scale, the focus is quite naturally on the role of agglomeration and the uneven distribution of incomes within countries and regions (De Dominicis, 2014); at the national scale, the question is instead linked to processes of economic and political restructuring and the overall level of national economic development (Monastiriotis, 2014); while at the supra-national scale, attention is directed to processes of internationalisation and economic (trade) openness (Rodriguez-Pose and Ezcurra, 2014). Following, the last two papers take us back to the national and sub-national scales, this time shifting the focus towards questions concerning the structure and effectiveness of governance (government quality and type/extent of decentralisation).…”

Zróżnicowania regionalne w Unii Europejskiej. Weryfikacja hipotezy Williamsona

“…poza biegunami wzrostu), gdzie występują niższe koszty pracy czy nasycenie inwestycjami na pracownika [Szörfi, 2007, s. 102]. Będzie temu sprzyjać poprawa jakości sieci komunikacyjnej, jak również zmniejszenie kosztów transportu [Monastiriotis, 2014] i prowadzona polityka rozwoju [Lessmann, 2014, s. 35]. Dzięki wystąpieniu efektów rozlewania (ang.…”

Increasing Added Value for the New City of Walini Through Infrastructure Project Development

“…Many scholars and researchers have identified theories and models of regional development including stage ideas, location factors, and sectoral transformation (North, 1955;Birch, 1971;Friedmann, 1986). Various studies also explore not only the linking of rural and urban areas or local-national development but also transforming developing nations into developed countries (Monastiriotis, 2014;Pike et al, 2016).…”