THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AIR TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT. AN EMPIRICAL INQUIRY

Daniela- Luminița CONSTANTIN

Professor at the Department of Administration and Public Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest; Romania

danielaconstantin_2005@yahoo.com

Ana-Maria MARCU

Reseαrcher, Administration and Public Management, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest; Romania

marcuana19@stud.ase.ro

Abstract

Nowadays the development of the air transport infrastructure is acknowledged as an important driver of regional development, while the economic development processes impact the demand and volume of air transport as well. This paper investigates the complex relationship between air transport infrastructure and regional development proposing an empirical analysis for the case of Romania, whose relevance is supported by her unprecedented dynamism in the general European framework at the same time with the tendency of reducing regional disparities, the balanced geographical distribution of the airport network, and the country’s geo-strategical position in the new international force field. By applying an in-depth analysis which combines the examination of strategic documents with the interpretation of statistical data and semi-structured interviews, relevant findings are provided with regard to the significance of air transport infrastructure in a context described by diversity of regional development levels, accompanied by insights into the policy-making framework, with emphasis on the requirements to be met for proper responses to the need to reinforce the air transport sector and to integrate the national vision with the specific regional development aspects.

Keywords: air transport infrastructure, regional disparities, place-based approaches, resilience, integration

JEL classification: R11, R19, R42, R58

 pp. 61-80

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ARE THE REGIONS WITH MORE GENDER EQUALITY THE MORE RESILIENT ONES? AN ANALYSIS OF THE ITALIAN REGIONS

Barbara MARTINI

Researcher of Policy Economics, University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy)

barbara.martini@uniroma2.it

Marco PLATANIA

Researcher of Applied Economics, University of Catania (IT), Visiting Research Fellowship, University of Winchester (UK)

 marco.platania@unict.it

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate the relationship between gender equality and regional resilience. Literature, primarily regional literature, has shown limited interest in gender. Nevertheless, females and males are employed in different industries, so when a shock hits, it can have a different employment impact in terms of gender and, consequently, in terms of resilience. Regions are specialized in some industries. Regional specialization results from historical, cultural, natural endowments, and social elements. Also, the uneven distribution between females and males within industries involves social, cultural, and economic components. As a result, regional specialization determines an employment distribution that can be unequal regarding gender. This employment distribution is captured by the Dissimilarity Index, which measures the sum of the absolute difference in females’ and males’ distribution over occupations. Therefore, the dissimilarity index emerges as a consequence of regional specialization. This dissimilarity, in turn, could have an impact on resilience. Our results put several significant results forwards. First, there is a relationship between gender segregation and regional specialization. The higher the regional specialization in sectors where the females’ share is low, the higher the dissimilarity. Second, there was a positive relationship between resilience and gender equality from 2008 to 2013. The more gender equality regions are also the more resilient ones. Taking a sectoral occupation is not easy, including social values, cultural components, welfare, education, and soft skill. Policies should also address their efforts to enhance the welfare and social dimensions and break gender stereotypes.

Keywords: Gender, Regional specialization, Dissimilarity, Resilience, Italy

JEL classification: R10, R11, R19, O18

 pp. 71-94

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ADDRESSING SPATIAL JUSTICE AT LOWER TERRITORIAL LEVELS. SOME INSIGHTS FROM THE CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES’ PERSPECTIVE

Daniela- Luminița CONSTANTIN

Professor at the Department of Administration and Public Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Bucharest; Romania

danielaconstantin_2005@yahoo.com

Abstract

The current approaches of territorial inequalities from the perspective of territorial cohesion in relation to the European Social Model bring into discussion the concept of spatial justice, which combines place-based with people-based prosperity and points to adequate social and spatial integration models.  It has been supported by the “Europe 2020” strategy and will get even stronger emphasis in the new programme period, 2021-2027. In this context, the analysis of territorial inequalities at deeper level of spatial disaggregation gets a special significance for the design of the future regional policies, which will incorporate an important spatial justice component. It will entail a growing need for data at NUTS3 and LAU levels as well as for microdata (usually obtained on the occasion of population censuses). At international level there is already a growing interest in doing research at these levels by both institutions that support cohesion policy and individual authors. Starting from these overall considerations this paper proposes an overarching review of selected relevant studies undertaken in Central and Eastern Europe in order to highlight significant aspects of deeper territorial inequalities, as useful hints for the prioritisation of the EU funds allocation to less developed areas and for laying good foundations for the regional policies in these countries. The paper brings about a twofold contribution, namely a discussion of the difficulties that have to be faced for the construction of appropriate databases and proper methodologies as well as the emphasis on those territorial inequalities that are better captured at deeper disaggregation levels.

Keywords: territorial cohesion, spatial justice, overarching review, territorial inequalities, disaggregation level,

JEL classification: R11, R12, R19

 pp. 315-326

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