For a better user experience please update your browser or use Chrome or Firefox browser.
Utilities
Publication detail
HomeSectoral analysis and assessment of geographical concentration of EU industries
Sectoral analysis and assessment of geographical concentration of EU industries
Publication metadata
There have been numerous investigations of the (changing) patterns of economic activity across the European Union, with special reference to whether and in what ways specialisation, concentration and agglomeration differ across member states and across the regions within them. Many of these studies have used the economic geography of the European Union to test the empirical validity of the various theories or explanations of these phenomena. Some studies have sought explicitly to determine whether and in what ways patters of regional specialisation, concentration and agglomeration have changed in response to the process of increasing integration (deepening) of the EU. Again, there are some theoretical arguments as to what should be expected as a result of this process (see below). Most studies deal with the period from around the beginning of the 1970s to around 2000. Much has happened to the economic context and conditions of the European Union since then, including another phase of enlargement of the membership of the Union, an acceleration in the process of globalisation, and the disruption caused by the global financial crisis of 2008-9 and the Great Recession this triggered. There is, therefore, in the light of these and other events, a strong case for revisiting the topic of the changing geographies of economic activity across the Union. There have also been some advances in the techniques and indices used to measure specialisation, concentration and agglomeration, as well the availability of improved and contemporary data. In addition, in recent years there has been something of a reappraisal of the importance of specialisation, concentration and agglomeration as empirical trends in the global economy. For example, a decade ago Paul Krugman (2008) voiced some doubt as to whether increasing return to regional specialisation, concentration and agglomeration are now as important as they once were, that there’s good reason to believe that the world economy has, over time, actually become less characterised by the kinds of increasing returns effects emphasized by new trade theory and new geography… In the case of geography, in fact, the peak impact of increasing returns occurred long before the theorists arrived on the scene. (p. 161) And some recent empirical studies find that agglomeration may not be the most important factor driving the economic growth of regions and cities (see for example, Martin, Gardiner and Tyler, 2011). For these reasons also, a new appraisal of the geographical pattern of economic activity across the EU is warranted.
- Published:
- Corporate author(s): Cambridge Econometrics , Cambridge University , Joint Research Centre (European Commission)
- Personal author(s): Martin, Ron ; Gardiner, Ben ; Vu, An
- Themes: Industrial policy
- Subject: economic activity , economic geography , industrial concentration , regional development , specialisation of trade
|
PDF
|
|||
| ISSN | ISBN 978-92-76-15039-8 | DOI 10.2760/575675 | Catalogue number KJ-04-20016-EN-N |
- Released on EU Publications:
Document viewer
Note:
The publication cannot be displayed in the document viewer. Open web version
You may access it from: Download and languages