Perspectives of Regional Development Around the Baltic Sea

This paper, written in honor of Ake Andersson, supports his view that we have now arrived at a time of logistical revolution, wherein information processing and communication capacity as well as the growth of the knowledge base are quintessential to the socioeconomic development of society. This paradigm underlies an analysis of the development perspectives of the countries along the southern rim of the Baltic Sea. The core elements of the transition to a market economy and the legacy of the past are considered. Furthermore, the question is asked whether a Baltic Sea Region may arise in future. A theoretical discussion of those elements that promote the formation of economic spaces in market economies and a cluster analysis of actual international trade leads us to the conclusion that a Baltic Sea Region comprising all regions bordering the Baltic Sea will not come into existence. However, a Scandinavian-Baltic economic space could arise, representing an enlargement of the already existing Scandinavian core