Gross Domestic Product per capita as a determinant of an economic development of Polish and Lithuanian regions – comparative analysis in a dynamic approach

Abstract

The article is a continuation of the author’s own research in the field of regional development, innovation and competitiveness of European Union regions with particular emphasis on the Eastern Poland macroregion (podkarpackie, podlaskie, świętokrzyskie, warmińsko-mazurskie and lubelskie voivodships) [Surówka, 2014, pp. 394–407; Surówka, 2015a, pp. 319–326; Surówka, 2015b, pp. 340–352]. It presents the results of own research in which the GDP per capita index was used to verify the dynamics of changes in a relative position of Polish subregions and Lithuanian districts, in constructed transition matrices. The study was conducted for the following periods; 2005–2013 for Lithuania and 2007–2012 for Poland. This approach made it possible to verify the degree of their diversity in the regional structure of the country as well as the observation and analysis of the dynamics of changes in the overall income distribution and location of regions in transition matrices. The study covered the regions of two selected countries of the European Union (Poland and Lithuania). At the beginning of the study, an analysis was presented for the matrix of GDP per capita transitions for subregions of Poland, in relation to the national average. The next part of the analysis refers to the regions of the NUTS2 level of Lithuania. The results are included in the summary tables and graphically presented on the maps. Thanks to this the text shows an interesting picture of the dynamic approach to the phenomenon of economic development of regions measured with the help of this tool. It should also be noted that the work is analytical. The theoretical basis of the considerations were extensive literature studies in this field. The entire text is concluded with a summary containing the most important research findings.