A CONVERGENCE ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN POLAND

A new method based on information theory is used in analysis of the characteristic features of the regional development in Poland during the period 2001–2013. The first part of this paper contains the presentation of the method and its advantages with comparison to other methods used in convergence analysis of regional development. Regional distributions of certain variables representing different socio-economic phenomena are compared with the distribution of basic variables treated as a pattern, and the proposed similarity measures are estimated. An analysis of the changes in the similarity measures over time is the basis for concluding whether convergence of regional development has been observed. The second part is devoted to an empirical analysis of convergence versus divergence of regional development on the second level disaggregation (16 provinces) in Poland. The different aspects of regional development such as human capital, economy, households, infrastructure and environment are examined. The convergence or divergence processes are presented in the charts. Conclusions of the economical nature, as well as methodological, ended the paper.