Péter Kovács

University of Szeged,

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Hungary

kovacs.peter@eco.u-szeged.hu 

ORCID 0000-0002-7376-8673

Relationships between factors of regional competitiveness in Central and Eastern Europe

Gábor Bodnár

University of Szeged,

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Hungary

bodnar.gabor@eco.u-szeged.hu

ORCID 0000-0002-8844-4313

Imre Lengyel

University of Szeged,

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Hungary

ilengyel@eco.u-szeged.hu

ORCID 0000-0002-9225-5320

Abstract. The divide between the eastern and western parts of the European Union has been widely discussed. However, significant territorial differences are undoubtedly present even within the narrower eastern region of the EU. This study focuses on the competitiveness of regions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The analysis relies on the pyramid model, the theoretical background of which provides the basis for investigating the factors affecting the competitiveness of the 51 NUTS 2 regions across six CEE countries. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is applied to examine the relationships and effect mechanisms between the model’s factors (more specifically, between the latent variables representing the factors). We have adapted our general model to the so-called overperforming and underperforming regions described by Iammarino et al. (2019), exploring the connections of their competitiveness factors in this context. Research results reveal that the effect mechanisms observed between the above-mentioned regions are completely different. Various factors can be considered as either important or less decisive in terms of competitiveness development, which could have implications for regional policy moving forward.

Received: December, 2022

1st Revision: May, 2023

Accepted: September, 2023

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-3/4

JEL Classification: C12, C35, R11

Keywords: PLS path modelling, regional competitiveness, renewed pyramid model