Zróżnicowanie i polaryzacja przestrzenna dochodów własnych gmin
The diversity and spatial polarisation of own incomes of the Polish gminas

Summary/Abstract: Own incomes are considered one of the most important sources of financing for local governments in Poland. Although own incomes have been the subject of numerous analyses, extensive research focusing on their spatial aspect is rarely conducted. This article aims to identify the changes in the spatial diversification and polarisation of gminas (communes’) own incomes. Data from the Local Data Bank of Statistics Poland, the National Bank of Poland and the World Bank were used. The analysis covered the years 1995–2019. The study used the global spatial autocorrelation coefficient and the LISA method to identify the process of spatial dependence and to determine the degree of spatial polarisation. The Gini coefficient was applied to assess the level of diversity.The results of the analysis confirmed that an increasing spatial autocorrelation occurred in the studied period, leading to the spatial polarisation of the Polish gminas in terms of their own incomes. Gminas with a high level of own income formed spatial clusters within large urban agglomerations, in regions where natural resources were exploited, along the western border and the coastal belt. The findings show that the area of these clusters was expanding. On the other hand, low-own-income gminas were located in eastern and south-eastern Poland. The analysis has not confirmed that the dynamics of the gross domestic product or the level of inequality in gminas’ own income per capita had any effect on the changes in the spatial autocorrelation coefficient, nor, consequently, on the process of spatial polarisation.

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