ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the role of structural change on the growing disparities among newcomer regions. It focuses on the spatial patterns of development prevailing in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) regions once the hardest phase of transition was over and growth picked up at the aggregate level. The chapter explores 'The recent empirical evidence', reviews the recent literature on regional income disparities in CEECs. Regional disparities within CEECs report some descriptive statistics on the evolution of regional gross domestic product (GDP) disparities in CEECs between 1991 and 2011. It focuses on old industrial regions based on heavy industry. In some cases old industries were kept artificially alive to avoid excessive job losses. Coming to the main factors that explain such strong divergences, the chapter argues that the socio-economic groups identified by Rodriguez Pose to explain disparities in European Union (EU) old members in the 1980s may apply also to newcomers.
