Three decades of economic changes of rural Slovakia

Abstract

The economy has been developing exceptionally dynamically in recent decades. In the Central European countries of the former Eastern Bloc, the transformation from a centrally planned to a market economy contributed to these dynamics after 1989. Despite a large number of analyses at the national level or in particular cities, the impact of this development on rural areas has yet to be researched. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap. Its goal is to estimate and assess the development of the number, spatial distribution, and sectoral structure of jobs in the Slovak rural areas over the period 1991-2021. The study uses two approaches to the definition of rural municipalities and explores spatial differentiation of changes. Analysing data on the economically active population and commuting to work, both based on sectoral structure, provides a reliable basis for making qualified estimates regarding the quantity and composition of jobs, even at the local level. The study confirms that municipalities considered rural administratively showed neutral or positive changes in the number of jobs and strong shift from agricultural to diversified rural economy. However, positive changes were mainly driven by suburban areas. When excluding them from consideration, rural municipalities show a rapid decline in the number of jobs and changes in the sectoral structure driven mainly by the decrease in agricultural jobs.