The influence of the gravitational effect on the spatial differentiation of economic development of poviats

Abstract

The aim of the study is a statistical analysis of the impact of the so-called gravitational effect on the level of economic development of Polish poviats (districts) in the years 2002–2012. The gravitational effect of macroeconomic analysis is based on the assumption that the level of economic development of the poviat depends, i.a. of medium gravity. This factor connecting two regions is directly proportional to the product of the economic potential of these regions (measured by gross value of fixed assets per capita) and inversely proportional to the square of the geographical distance between these regions. The article describes the spatial variation of taxonomic indicators of economic development and the effects of gravity in the poviats. The paper presents the results of a statistical analysis of the impact of the gravitational effect of the diversity on economic development of the districts. The study takes into account both the effects of national (mutual poviats) and external (foreign neighbors on Polish counties economic development) gravitational interaction.