Male Activity Rates vs Education Levels: An Analysis Across Selected European Union Countries

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the evolution of male employment rates between 2013–2017 in selected Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Hungary), and to analyze the interregional relationships between male activity and education levels. Methodology: The TOPSIS method was used to build synthetic indicators of male activity and education. An analysis of spatial autocorrelation was carried out to determine the strength of spatial relationships between different regions in terms of male activity and education levels. Also, the dependence between synthetic indicators of male activity and education levels was empirically analyzed based on spatial regression. Findings: The results of spatial regression analysis provide grounds for concluding that a 1% increase in the value of the synthetic indicator of education results, ceteris paribus, in a nearly 0,48% increase in the synthetic indicator of male activity levels in each region. Practical Implications: The results of the conducted research may be indirectly used by the central and local authorities responsible for local and regional development in the context of the choice of the direction for the socio-economic restructuring of countries and local government units. Originality/Value: Rarely used spatial regression together with taxonomic methods may constitute a useful tool for identification of relations between multidimensional categories.