BIO

Zoltán Elekes is engaged in research on topics at the intersection of evolutionary economic geography and network science. He received his PhD in economics from the Doctoral School of Economics at the University of Szeged, Hungary, in 2018. In his thesis, he explored how multinational enterprises and imports influence the economic diversification of microregions. He is a senior research fellow at the ANETI Lab of the ELTE Centre for Economic and Regional Studies in Hungary, where he studies the geography and robustness of supplier-buyer networks. He leads a research project at the Centre for Regional Science at Umeå University, Sweden, on how the network structure of local labour markets conditions regional economic resilience and structural change. He has published in leading field journals, including Economic Geography, Regional Studies, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, and European Planning Studies, and has refereed for Economic Geography and Regional Studies, among others. Zoltán is the 2019 recipient of the Excellent Young Regional Scientist Award of the Hungarian Regional Science Association, the Hungarian section of ERSA. Since 2019, he has consulted with policymakers in Swedish regions on smart specialization and regional economic development on multiple occasions. He continues to mentor students in Hungary and contributes to the Network and Spatial Analysis course developed by the ANETI Lab.

PUBLICATIONS

S Juhász, Z Elekes, V Ilyés, F Neffke (2026) Co-location of skill-related suppliers: advancing coagglomeration research using firm-to-firm network data. Journal of Economic Geography, lbag006.
M Henning, R Eriksson, P Garefelt, H Martin, Z Elekes (2025) Job relatedness, local skill coherence and economic performance: a job postings approach. Regional Studies, Regional Science, 12(1): 95–122.
Z Elekes, G Tóth, R Eriksson (2024) Regional resilience and the network structure of inter-industry labour flows. Regional Studies, 58(12): 2307-2321.
A Baranowska-Rataj, Z Elekes, R Eriksson (2023) Escaping from Low-Wage Employment: The Role of Co-worker Networks. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 83: 100747.
Z Elekes, A Baranowska-Rataj, R Eriksson (2023) Regional diversification and labour market upgrading: local access to skill-related high-income jobs helps workers escaping low-wage employment. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 16(3): 417–430.
G Tóth, Z Elekes, A Whittle, C Lee, D Kogler (2022) Technology Network Structure Conditions the Economic Resilience of Regions. Economic Geography, 98(4): 355-378.
G Tóth, S Juhász, Z Elekes, B Lengyel (2021) Repeated collaboration of inventors across European regions. European Planning Studies, 29(12): 2252-2272.
Z Elekes, B Lengyel (2020) Related trade variety, foreign-domestic spillovers and regional employment in Hungary. Acta Oeconomica, 70(4): 551-570.
Z Elekes, R Boschma, B Lengyel (2019) Foreign-owned firms as agents of structural change in regions. Regional Studies, 53(11): 1603-1613.
I Szakálné Kanó, B Lengyel, Z Elekes, I Lengyel (2019) Agglomeration, foreign firms and firm exit in regions under transition: the increasing importance of related variety in Hungary. European Planning Studies, 27(11): 2099-2122.