Grant-funded Project Nr. 351/2004/B-GEO/PřF
Final Report

Project title:The role of West-East gradient in regional development of the Czech Republic
Research leader:Doc. RNDr. Jiří Blažek, Ph.D.
Co-researcher: Mgr. Rudolf Štika; Mgr. Tomáš Hudeček; Mgr. Pavel Csank
Period of project:2004-2004
Overall grant:294 000 CZK

Project Results

The aim of the project was to analyze the relevance of horizontal geographic position (i.e. so called West – East gradient) for major demographic, social, and economic indicators over period of up to 80 years. The following three basic hypotheses have been formulated:  firstly, the authors expected more favourable development in western/northwestern regions than in Eastern/Southeastern regions, secondly, gradual decrease of relevance of horizontal geographic position over time has been foreseen, and thirdly, a shift of geoeconomic axis from Northwest-Southeast to directly West-East direction has been envisaged.

Therefore, the existence of a West – East “slope” in the level of 12 analysed indicators was tested and changes over time analysed. In order to achieve more comparable results all data have been relativized to national average in respective year. The main strength, but in the same time the main weakness, of the relatively crude method that has been used for analysis of the influence of horizontal geographic position  for regional development is that it allows to identify the socio-economic spheres where its relevance seems to be dominant.
Horizontal geographic position generally seems to be exhibiting rather weak influence on major social and economic indicators, the clear influence is rather exceptional. One exception is distribution of FDIs, but only in case that the indicator is number of firms relativized per capita and not amount of invested capital (see Blažek, 2004). The second and more significant sphere where the role of horizontal geographic position is clearly discernible is set of indicators related to labour market (esp. the share of economically active population, but also the rate of unemployment and development of labour opportunities). The authors believe that also in case of majority of other analysed indicators is the horizontal geographic position of respective districts and regions relevant but over-shadowed by interplay of set of other factors.
The data on development of share of economically active population and on unemployment suggests that there could be an envisaged partial shift of orientation of horizontal geographic position from traditional Northwest-Southeast to new West – East direction. Nevertheless, one might speculate that this shift can be of only temporary nature as in case of re-juvenalization of axis  Berlin - Prague - Wien the direction of geoeconomic axis can return to traditional  Northwest – Southeast direction.
Despite methodological problems and relatively crude method that was used it seems that horizontal geographic position is in majority of spheres not a decisive factor of regional development but rather general framework in which different subjects have to operate. Therefore, the main conclusion is in fact rather optimistic - there is no fatalism of geographic position but quite a wide space for individual subjects.
As a possible direction of future research can be proposed an analysis of mutual interplay of both basic types of geographic positions, i.e. of horizontal and vertical geographic position. In addition, an attempt to assess the significance of different types of geographic position as well as of other factors of regional development by application of multidimensional statistical techniques could be made.