Integration in the German-Polish border region ? Status Quo and Current Developments

National borders within the European Union have significantly lost importance during the last decades. That is because the costs for the movement of goods, services, production factors and information across borders continuously decreased in the course of advancing integration. Lower distance costs and almost meaningless national borders open up best conditions for intensifying trade, factor mobility and the international and interregional division of labour. Thus, European integration is likely to affect the economic geography within the participating countries. Most probably, among other factors, also a region's relative geographical position in the whole integration area impacts the regional effects of European integration. Marked by a particular geographical position are those regions which are located along the national borders among integrating countries and thus are from the geographical perspective the focal point of integration. A striking feature of those inner border regions of the EU is that their relative geographical position is immensely altered in the course of integration: It changes from a peripheral position on the national scale to a more or less central one within the whole integration area. The paper investigates economic structure and development of the EU inner border regions. The empirical analysis covers the time period from 1980 to 1998 and deals with employment, GDP and population density and development The analysed question is whether there are - measured by these indicators - systematic differences in economic development among inner border regions and the rest of their respective country. The analysis of the EU's inner border regions is first of all interesting regarding historical and prospective developments among current European Union member states. Furthermore, plenty of inner border regions will emerge in the course of EU Eastern enlargement, for example along the border between Germany and Poland.

The future of the Baltic Sea region: Potentials and challenges

The study analyses the development possibilities of the Baltic Sea region from various perspectives. It deals with the current situation, the potential and the future challenges. Thereby this study puts its focus on trade in the Baltic Sea area, demographic trends, capacity for innovation and the economic impact of the cities in this area. --

Integration and labour markets in European border regions

"Border regions are likely to play a critical role within the spatial dynamics initiated by the enlargement of the EU. This paper deals with the effects of integration on labour markets in border regions. Within the framework of different theoretical approaches, the effects of integration on location conditions and labour market disparities along national borders are analysed. Furthermore, we investigate empirically the degree of labour market integration in European border regions. Measures of spatial association are used as indicators of the intensity of integration among neighbouring labour markets. The results of an analysis of per capita income and unemployment for the period 1995-2000 point to a measurable spatial segmentation of labour markets along national borders even among highly integrated EU15 countries. On average, border regions in the EU are characterised by a lower degree of labour market integration than non-border areas, due to significant border impediments that hamper equilibrating forces between labour markets on both sides of national frontiers." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))europäische Integration, Grenzgebiet, EU-Erweiterung, Arbeitsmarktentwicklung, regionaler Arbeitsmarkt, Standortfaktoren, grenzüberschreitende Zusammenarbeit, Einkommensentwicklung, Arbeitslosigkeit, Außenhandelsverflechtung, Arbeitskräftemobilität, Wirtschaftsgeografie, Europäische Union

Integration and Labour Markets in European Border regions

Border regions are likely to play a critical role within the special dynamics initiated by the enlargement of the EU. This paper deals with the effects of integration on labour market conditions in border regions. Within the framework of different theoretical approaches the effects of integration on location conditions and labour markets in border regions are analysed. Furthermore, we investigate empirically the degree of labour market integration in European border regions. Measures of spatial association are applied as indicators for the intensity of integration among neighbouring labour markets. The results of an analysis of per capita income and unemployment for the period 1995 to 2000 point at a measurable spatial segmentation of labour markets even among highly integrated EU15 countries. On average, border regions in the EU are characterised by lower degree of labour market integration than non-border areas due to significant border impediments that hamper equilibrating forces between labour markets on both sides of national frontiers. JEL classification: F22, J61, R23 Keywords: European Integration, Labour Market Disparities, Border Regions, Spatial Dependence

The impact of Poland’s EU accession on labour supply in the German-Polish border region – What can we expect?

While barriers to trade between EU-15 and accession countries have been completely abolished on May 1st 2004, other integration impediments remain to exist in the enlarged EU. These will steadily decrease within the next years, e.g. by new member states joining the Schengen Treaty and Euro area. A significant outstanding integration step is the liberalisation of labour mobility between EU-15 and new member states which will be realised not later than 2011. In this context it is often argued that the free movement of labour could worsen labour market problems in the former EU-15, especially in regions neighbouring the new member countries. This paper provides an assessment of the impact of enlargement on labour markets in the German-Polish border region. As a starting point for the analysis, current labour market conditions and income disparities in the German-Polish border region are analysed. Furthermore, the paper summarises relevant implications of migration theories and gives an outlook on the development of factors determining cross-border labour migration in the German-Polish border region. Finally, different estimates of migration and commuting potential affecting labour markets in the German-Polish border region until 2020 are discussed.

Integration effects in border regions - a survey of economic theory and empirical studies

Border regions and border effects currently attract a lot of attention in political practice and economic research. Substantial interest in regions located along the frontiers of integrating countries is predominantly inspired by the presumption that their specific geographic position might cause peculiarities in economic adjustments to integration. This survey explores whether economic theory and empirical studies support the assessment that integration effects concentrate in border regions. Economic theory alone allows only very vague conclusions about the spatial effects of integration. Depending on specific circumstances, border regions might benefit, lose or not be affected by integration. Empirical research on border regions - undertaken so far - does not allow to draw clear-cut conclusions as well. At present, there is neither a direct test for integration effects in border regions, nor a comprehensive study on the development of border regions. To sum up, the survey suggests that rigorous theoretical and empirical analysis is needed to foster the understanding of integration effects in border regions.

Development perspectives for the City of Hamburg: Migration, commuting, and specialization

This paper disentangles the single effects of increasing transportation costs on the arising economic structure and applies them to the regional level of the metropolis of Hamburg. Therefore we begin with a general indexing of the metropolis Hamburg in the context of Germany's ten biggest cities according to some key economic variables. Of major importance are issues of migration, commuting as well as structural change and regional specialization. As will become apparent all these aspects are differently affected by (changing) transportation costs and it is finally the interplay of different forces that shapes the future structure and hence the economic success of the metropolis. From the viewpoint of private individuals, increasing transportation costs affect the outweighing of commuting from home to the working place versus migration. Focusing on the production site, not only direct but also indirect effects that arise from horizontal or vertical relationships gain importance. --

Metropolitan Cities under Transition: The Example of Hamburg/Germany

In the intermediate and long run energy prices and hence transportation costs are expected to increase significantly. According to the reasoning of the New Economic Geography this will strengthen the spreading forces and thus affect the economic landscape. Other influencing factors on the regional distribution of economic activity include the general trends of demographic and structural change. In industrialized countries, the former induces an overall reduction of population and labor force whereas the latter implies an ongoing shift to the tertiary sector and increased specialization. Basically, cities provide better conditions to cope with these challenges than rural regions. Since the general trends affect all economic spaces similarly, city-specific factors also have to be considered in order to derive the impact of rising energy costs on future urban development. With respect to Hamburg regional peculiarities include the overall importance of the harbor as well as the existing composition of the industry and the service sector. The analysis highlights that rising energy and transportation costs will open up a range of opportunities for the metropolitan region.urban development; regional specialization; structural change; demographic change; transportation costs.

Metropolitan Cities under Transition: The Example of Hamburg/Germany

In the intermediate and long run, energy prices and hence transportation costs are expected to increase significantly. According to the reasoning of the New Economic Geography this will strengthen the spreading forces and thus affect the economic landscape. Other influencing factors on the regional distribution of economic activity include the general trends of demographic and structural change. In industrialized countries, the former induces an overall reduction of population and labor force, whereas the latter implies an ongoing shift to the tertiary sector and increased specialization. Basically, cities provide better conditions to cope with these challenges than do rural regions. Since the general trends affect all economic spaces similarly, especially cityspecific factors have to be considered in order to derive the impact of rising energy costs on future urban development. With respect to Hamburg, regional peculiarities include the overall importance of the harbor as well as the existing composition of the industry and the service sector. The analysis highlights that rising energy and transportation costs will open up a range of opportunities for the metropolitan region.urban development, regional specialization, structural change, demographic change, transportation costs