Zoltan Gal
Articles
Geographia Polonica (2005) vol. 78, iss. 2, pp. 31-52 | 
Full text
Abstract
The paper is concerned with the role of innovation during the transition period. It presents indicators of the national innovation system and spatial impact of the economic trans-formation on research and development. While in the early transition years, spatial differences were largely determined by FDI in manufacturing, the new directions of innovation have recently become the main driving force that differentiates economic space. Preconditions for the innova-tion-led development are to a large extent jeopardized by the shallower innovation potential of the regions and the dominant role of Budapest. The final section deals with the regional policy implications, discussing the innovation-oriented regional policy approach.
Keywords: economic transformation, national innovation system, R&D, geographical disparities, regional innovation policy.
, Centre for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, University of Kaposvâr PO.BOX 199, 7601 Pecs, HUNGARY
Challenges of regionalism: development and spatial structure of the Hungarian banking system
Geographia Polonica (2000) vol. 73, iss. 1, pp. 95-126 | Full text
Abstract
This paper is concerned with the spatial characteristics of the Hungarian bank-ing system. Financial services became the key sector in the processes of economic transfor-mation and one differentiated by uneven regional development. The spatial structure of the banking sector is characterised by a large-scale concentration in Budapest, but the foundation boom of branch offices is also typical in the regions, as the necessity of a presence on local markets, as well as competition for the retail market, stimulate banks to expand their branch networks. Commercial banks, which have their headquarters exclusively in Budapest, largely confine themselves to the collection of deposits in their national network, resulting in capital drainage and net capital loss from most of the regions. The presence of the centralised capital market and the lack of a decentralised regional financial system can restrain and slow down regional development in the long run.
Keywords: Hungarian banking system, transitional financial markets, banking network, global-local dichotomy, uneven regional development
, Centre for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, University of Kaposvâr PO.BOX 199, 7601 Pecs, HUNGARY