Finnish districts and regional differentiation

Abstract

In this article we chart the emergence of functional region level analysis and policy implementation in Finland and attempt to clarify its significance for the analysis of Finnish regional development in the latter half of the 1990s. The characteristics of development in terms of regional gross production, employment, and migration at the national level show a propensity towards increasing polarisation: more and more districts are below the national average as economic development agglomerates to fewer growth centres.