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The dissertation aims to point out the territorial and spatial correlations of the income inequality of one of Hungary's peripheral counties (Békés), which is peripheral in socio-economic terms, too. The aims of the research include the examination of income inequalities by settlement structure (by population size), the drawing up of a longterm inequality pathway, the analysis of the income mobility and spatial similarity of settlements, and the temporal change of the income position of settlements. In the first part of the study, the author points out the historical context of peripheralization, highlighting the main effects of the Treaty of Trianon and the socialist economic policy. Analysis methods include one-dimensional territorial inequality indices (such as weighted relative standard deviation), exploratory spatial data analysis (spatial autocorrelation and regressions), and the Markov-chain method. According to the results, today Békés county still does not reach the relative income position of 1988, as do half of the settlement categories. The long-run inequality path is clearly related to the Williamson hypothesis and Richardson's polarization reversal hypothesis. It is important to emphasize that income convergence is due not only to the differentiated catching up of the settlement network, but also to the downward levelling of the major county centres (Békéscsaba, Gyula). Small centres with a population of 5,000-9,999 appear as a special territorial feature of catching up, with an average income position above that of major district centres. According to the Markov-chain model, the income mobility of the settlements was high during the examined period, and in some sub-periods very intensive processes were observed. Between 1988 and 2017 there was a marked spatial polarization (based on neighbourhood relations) in Békés county, which is significantly related to the regional income inequality. These characteristics do not always move together, two different patterns are observed during the period under study. Models explaining the temporal differentiation of the income situation of settlements point to the role of traditional territorial income inequality factors (for example, settlement size, centre-periphery relations, path dependence, etc.), but many historical features also appear as background factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dissertation aims to point out the territorial and spatial correlations of the income inequality of one of Hungary's peripheral counties (Békés), which is peripheral in socio-economic terms, too. The aims of the research include the examination of income inequalities by settlement structure (by population size), the drawing up of a longterm inequality pathway, the analysis of the income mobility and spatial similarity of settlements, and the temporal change of the income position of settlements. In the first part of the study, the author points out the historical context of peripheralization, highlighting the main effects of the Treaty of Trianon and the socialist economic policy. Analysis methods include one-dimensional territorial inequality indices (such as weighted relative standard deviation), exploratory spatial data analysis (spatial autocorrelation and regressions), and the Markov-chain method. According to the results, today Békés county still does not reach the relative income position of 1988, as do half of the settlement categories. The long-run inequality path is clearly related to the Williamson hypothesis and Richardson's polarization reversal hypothesis. It is important to emphasize that income convergence is due not only to the differentiated catching up of the settlement network, but also to the downward levelling of the major county centres (Békéscsaba, Gyula). Small centres with a population of 5,000-9,999 appear as a special territorial feature of catching up, with an average income position above that of major district centres. According to the Markov-chain model, the income mobility of the settlements was high during the examined period, and in some sub-periods very intensive processes were observed. Between 1988 and 2017 there was a marked spatial polarization (based on neighbourhood relations) in Békés county, which is significantly related to the regional income inequality. These characteristics do not always move together, two different patterns are observed during the period under study. Models explaining the temporal differentiation of the income situation of settlements point to the role of traditional territorial income inequality factors (for example, settlement size, centre-periphery relations, path dependence, etc.), but many historical features also appear as background factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic downturn triggered by the economic crisis was installed in Romania in 2008, stopping the economic growth process. However, the impact of the financial turbulence presented asymmetrical effects on regional level, both in terms of GDP per capita and in terms of employment rate. The aim of present article is to analyze how regional economies reacted in this context and to assess the impact of the crisis on intra-regional disparities in Romania. From the methodological point of view, the research involves using panel data analysis tools that can provide evidence amongst the degree to which the crisis has induced a process of economic convergence between regions or increased regional disparities, according to Williamson’s hypothesis.

Education is one of the most important factors of territorial development; therefore, it is worth following its inequality tendencies. After the political transition in Hungary, the several-decadelong trend of declining inequalities slowed down, but from the turn of the millennium, the regional inequalities of education decreased again, which raise some - partly methodological - dilemmas. In this study, data on the level of education, the average finished school years of the Hungarian population are analysed for 1990, 2001 and 2011, based on census data. The results demonstrate that changes in this indicator compared with the national average without Budapest (fit, overall, in the formation of the spatial structure of the country after the political transition, and) have resulted in a higher level of education. Nevertheless, there are relative losers and winners of this process. The winner areas include the agglomerations of Budapest and the largest towns, North Western Transdanubia as well as the surroundings of Lake Balaton; the loser areas comprise the territories affected by the industrial structural crisis and the traditional peripheral zones. The inner-district inequalities call attention to the differing paths of regions. Peripheral areas are characterised by higher level of inequalities and a divergent process, while developed districts with more favourable educational values can be described by lower level of inequalities and dominant convergence. This relation proves the relevance of Williamson's inverted U curve hypothesis in income conditions (Németh-Kiss 2007) and in the level of education. The current analyses highlight that in terms of some of the educational indicators the stable backwardness and increasing falling behind of the peripheral areas continued after the political transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic convergence and the effects of the economic crisis is a very popular research question. In this paper I propose to examine the convergence process in Central and Eastern Europe by testing the Williamson hypothesis form a multiscalar perspective: at national and at different regional levels as well. By using time series for the GDP per capita, I will try to answer three basic issues: firstly, the trends in convergence/divergence in Central and Eastern Europe, secondly, which convergence clubs have evolved in the analysed space, and, finally, the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the convergence process.

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The economic downturn triggered by the economic crisis was installed in Romania in 2008, stopping the economic growth process. However, the impact of the financial turbulence presented asymmetrical effects on regional level, both in terms of GDP per capita and in terms of employment rate. The aim of present article is to analyze how regional economies reacted in this context and to assess the impact of the crisis on intra-regional disparities in Romania. From the methodological point of view, the research involves using panel data analysis tools that can provide evidence amongst the degree to which the crisis has induced a process of economic convergence between regions or increased regional disparities, according to Williamson's hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic convergence and the effects of the economic crisis is a very popular research question. In this paper I propose to examine the convergence process in Central and Eastern Europe by testing the Williamson hypothesis form a multiscalar perspective: at national and at different regional levels as well. By using time series for the GDP per capita, I will try to answer three basic issues: firstly, the trends in convergence/divergence in Central and Eastern Europe, secondly, which convergence clubs have evolved in the analysed space, and, finally, the effects of the financial and economic crisis on the convergence process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]