Suchergebnisse

This paper analyzes the process of industrial diversification in the countries that were part of the European Union (EU-27) and those that were the target of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the period 1995–2010 by means of world trade data derived from the BACI database (elaborated UN Comtrade data). Our results show that in both the EU-27 and the ENP countries, the evolution of the productive structure—as proxied by the export mix—is strongly path-dependent: countries tend to keep a comparative advantage in products that are strongly related to their current productive structure, and they also diversify in nearby products. However, this effect is much stronger for ENP countries, signalling their lower resources and capabilities to diversify in products that are not very related to their productive structure. We also show that the future export structures of countries are affected by their imports: both the EU-27 and ENP countries keep a comparative advantage in products that are strongly related to their imports, but only EU countries show a strong capability to diversify in new products from related import sectors. Our results also hold when controlling for geographical and institutional proximity.

This paper analyzes the process of industrial diversification in the countries that were part of the European Union (EU-27) and those that were the target of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the period 1995–2010 by means of world trade data derived from the BACI database (elaborated UN Comtrade data). Our results show that in both the EU-27 and the ENP countries, the evolution of the productive structure—as proxied by the export mix—is strongly path-dependent: countries tend to keep a comparative advantage in products that are strongly related to their current productive structure, and they also diversify in nearby products. However, this effect is much stronger for ENP countries, signalling their lower resources and capabilities to diversify in products that are not very related to their productive structure. We also show that the future export structures of countries are affected by their imports: both the EU-27 and ENP countries keep a comparative advantage in products that are strongly related to their imports, but only EU countries show a strong capability to diversify in new products from related import sectors. Our results also hold when controlling for geographical and institutional proximity.

Discusses regional autonomy and state paradigm shifts, transnational governance and changing borders, and economic aspects of tourism policy; uses Australian regional policy as model for the European Union; 6 articles. Some focus on relations between different levels of government.

The topic of clustering is a central one in contemporary debates on the relationship between the global and the local. This book addresses both conceptual and empirical issues on clustering, learning and regional development. It represents the current state of affairs in this body of literature in a critical way and gives a unique overview of the latest developments. The book reflects a kind of uneasiness scholars have with the general model of clusters that has been so dominant in the field of regional economics and economic geography in the past twenty years. All chapters in this book contribute to the debate, either at the conceptual level, the empirical level or both. At the conceptual level, the cluster model has been criticized because it has been represented as a model that has been idealized too much. Moreover, it has been developed mainly as a theoretical model, without having been accompanied by a great deal of empirical testing of its main propositions.

Many studies have shed light on the positive side of relatedness, but little attention has yet been devoted to possible downsides of relatedness for firm performance in regions. We found in a case study of the oil-dependent Stavanger region in Norway that plants in industries that are skill-related to the dominant oil and gas industry showed lower employment growth than plants in other industries. This was the case both in the boom and the crisis periods, even when controlling for supply linkages to the oil and gas sector. However, we also found that plants skill-related to the oil and gas industry increased their relative performance during the crisis to some degree, but they did not outperform the non-skill-related plants during the crisis.