The use of a spatial switching regression model in the analysis of regional convergence in Poland

The article addresses the analysis of regional convergence in Poland in the time period between 2008 and 2009. Within the research conducted, two research hypotheses were formulated and later verified. The first hypothesis assumed that the GDP per capita in Polish subregions and its growth rate possess the properties of positive spatial dependence. The other hypothesis assumed that in Poland there is a polarization of the economic growth in the case of selected two spatial regimes. In the analysis we employed the spatial switching regression model.