Kotwice biedy – w poszukiwaniu czynników decydujących o niskiej zamożności gmin

The research topic discussed in the article concerns the issues of territorial differentiation in the context of the wealth-poverty development dualism. The authors looked for factors that could influence the anchoring of municipalities in poverty, thus attempting to develop the current scientific discourse on the causes of long-term territorial differences. The presented data analysis focuses on the years 1995–2018 and includes units that in 1995 and 2018 were among the poorest municipalities in Poland, as well as those that managed to “get out of poverty”. Comparing the groups of municipalities, an attempt was made to assess the impact of internal resources as well as external conditions on the level of wealth. The methods of statistical analysis were used in the work: non-parametric statistical tests and panel regression. Comparing the results obtained in different groups of municipalities, it should be stated that the population potential, the level of entrepreneurship and the potential of the labor market are factors that have a limited impact on the explanation of the low level of affluence. The diversified influence of external factors related to key events in Poland and in the world was also shown.