Export activity patterns of border regions in Poland

Barbara Szejgiec-Kolenda

doi:10.7163/eu21.2018.34.7

Abstract

The study presents a brief review of Polish border regions’ participation in the global economy in 2013 based on export linkages at the local level (LAU 1). The paper offers an extended understanding of the export activity of intermediaries in foreign trade comparing to manufacturing companies. Results confirm the relatively greater importance of intermediaries activity in border areas, especially at the eastern border.

Highlights

The first regional research works on the Polish foreign trade were comprised of analyses of foreign trade flows through transport corridors (Komornicki 2000), study of foreign exchange utilized as a basis for expanded international research study of spatial interactions taking place at the regional and local level (Komornicki 2003), and analysis taking account of differentiations in directions of linkages between particular regions and foreign markets, differences noted in internal structure of trade of particular Polish regions in relationship to specialization of suppliers and exporters operating on a given area and depending on the specificity of a region, and of comprehensive approach to the issue of interregional socio-economic linkages in combination with foreign investments projects in companies and regional competitiveness (Rogacki 2000; Maćkowiak 2008; Maćkowiak 2013)
The main aim of this paper is to present from a spatial perspective an assessment of intermediaries in foreign trade activity at border regions
The analysis focuses on the process of gradual integration within the world economy of local economies at border regions in Poland, understood as LAU 1 units divided into 7 sections of the borders with neighbouring countries situated within 50 km of the border as indicated in the National Strategy of Regional Development 2010-2020

Summary

Introduction

In the face of globalization processes, international aspects of company activity are growing in importance, with an increasing number of companies being involved in international exchange – as a result the issues concerning internationalization of firms as a key factor for economic growth have for years been the subject of great interest by scholars.The first regional research works on the Polish foreign trade were comprised of analyses of foreign trade flows through transport corridors (Komornicki 2000), study of foreign exchange utilized as a basis for expanded international research study of spatial interactions taking place at the regional and local level (Komornicki 2003), and analysis taking account of differentiations in directions of linkages between particular regions and foreign markets, differences noted in internal structure of trade of particular Polish regions in relationship to specialization of suppliers and exporters operating on a given area and depending on the specificity of a region, and of comprehensive approach to the issue of interregional socio-economic linkages in combination with foreign investments projects in companies and regional competitiveness (Rogacki 2000; Maćkowiak 2008; Maćkowiak 2013). In the face of globalization processes, international aspects of company activity are growing in importance, with an increasing number of companies being involved in international exchange – as a result the issues concerning internationalization of firms as a key factor for economic growth have for years been the subject of great interest by scholars. The phenomenon of intermediation in trade is a well-known issue, only recently it has been paid attention to in the international economic literature. A number of theoretical models, such as innovation adoption, organizational learning, and relationship marketing, have been adapted to provide conceptual underpinnings for existing export development studies. Theoretical efforts to explain export intermediaries’ development as an organizational form, or to understand why some intermediaries succeed and others fail have largely been ad hoc, with little connection to the wider management, marketing, and international business literatures

Objectives

Results

Conclusion