Economic integration, regional structural change and cohesion in the EU new member-states

The European economic landscape has changed dramatically during the last decade, following the collapse of the bi-polar world. The parallel and interacting processes of economic integration and transition are the driving forces of these changes. In this context, the EU new member-states (including the candidate countries of Bulgaria and Romania) have experienced, often forcefully and painfully, the impact of these processes as a pre-condition for catch-up and integration with the prosperous EU-15 countries. Being still in progress, these processes have altered the intraregional division of labor, affecting the patterns of regional specialization and industrial concentration and increasing the level of interregional competition and inequalities, in a newly emerged internationalized environment. The extent and the impact of these changes, however, are still issues of major scientific dialogue and concern, with many unknown parameters. The need for this first period of transition and economic integration (decade of 90s) to be re-evaluated is evident concerning the mobility of economic activities and possible re-location of industries, the behaviour of the individual regions, the dynamics of regional discrepancies and the stability of the territorial structures. The overall scientific objective of this paper is to identify and explain in a cross-country and comparative analysis the structural industrial patterns in the area of EU new member-states bringing together the findings and reports of the scientific bibliography. Furthermore, a static and dynamic analysis takes place in order to uncover in more depth the possible relation between economic integration, regional structural change and cohesion in these countries. To this direction, a number of research questions are addressed: What is the impact of economic integration to the evolution of regional industrial patterns? Have advanced and lagging-behind regions developed similar or different types of specialization? What is their mix of activities? Over time, do they become more similar or dissimilar? Have metropolitan regions the same mix of activities with peripheral and border regions? Do their economic structures become more similar or dissimilar over time? Are there particular types of structural change more closely related to strong growth performance? The main part of the analysis is conducted on a basis of employment data, as a proxy for industrial structures in NUTS III spatial level, disaggregated by manufacturing branches according to NACE rev.1 two-digit classification. Emphasis is given to the countries of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia due to lack of statistical information (regional-structural figures) for the other countries under research. However, despite this shortcoming, the country sample of our analysis can be considered representative of the whole area since it covers all its parts i.e. Southeastern Europe–Balkans (Bulgaria, Romania), Central Europe (Slovenia, Hungary), Eastern Europe–Baltic (Estonia). The research covers the period between 1990 and 1999, a period of extreme significance since it includes both the shocks and the upsets of the early transition (sub-period 1991–1995) and the recent, more independent, trends (1995–1999). The reported findings and conclusions of this research may be a valuable basis for the understanding of the impact of economic integration on regional structure change and cohesion and, as a result, be the basis for the discussion of the appropriate policies of cohesion in the enlarged EU-27.

Peripherality and Integration: Industrial Growth and Decline in the Greek Regions

An empirical model has been deployed to account for regional industrial growth and performance in Greece’s post EU-accession period. The results obtained suggest that the effect of European integration on manufacturing has been rather adverse across Greek regions. Regions that are more industrialised, whose structure was more similar to the European average and which have been more exposed to European competition are those that have been more adversely affected. In contrast, higher diversity, higher presence of capital intensive sectors and higher tertiarisation of the regional economies were found to be beneficial to regional industrial growth and performance.

Patterns of Regional Specialization and Sectoral Concentration of Industrial Activity in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia.

The process of Central and Eastern European Countries’ (CEEC) transition from central planning to market economy has resulted in industrial restructuring and labor reallocation across branches and regions. The paper identifies patterns of industrial activity in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia on a basis of employment data, as a proxy for regional industrial structures, at NUTS III spatial level, disaggregated by manufacturing branches according to NACE rev. 1 two – digit classification. Theil entropy index is used in the analysis in order to evaluate patterns of regional specialization (defined as the distribution of the shares of a sector ? in a region ?) and sectoral concentration (defined as the distribution of the shares of a region in a sector ?). The over time evolution of the process of industrial restructuring represents a proper baseline for the likely distributional implications of the EU enlargement for these countries. Key Words: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia, industrial restructuring, industrial mix, competitiveness and growth. JEL Classification: L16, R11, R12.

Economic integration, regional structural change and cohesion in the EU new member-states

The European economic landscape has changed dramatically during the last decade, following the collapse of the bi-polar world. The parallel and interacting processes of economic integration and transition are the driving forces of these changes. In this context, the EU new member-states (including the candidate countries of Bulgaria and Romania) have experienced, often forcefully and painfully, the impact of these processes as a pre-condition for catch-up and integration with the prosperous EU-15 countries. Being still in progress, these processes have altered the intraregional division of labor, affecting the patterns of regional specialization and industrial concentration and increasing the level of interregional competition and inequalities, in a newly emerged internationalized environment. The extent and the impact of these changes, however, are still issues of major scientific dialogue and concern, with many unknown parameters. The need for this first period of transition and economic integration (decade of 90s) to be re-evaluated is evident concerning the mobility of economic activities and possible re-location of industries, the behaviour of the individual regions, the dynamics of regional discrepancies and the stability of the territorial structures. The overall scientific objective of this paper is to identify and explain in a cross-country and comparative analysis the structural industrial patterns in the area of EU new member-states bringing together the findings and reports of the scientific bibliography. Furthermore, a static and dynamic analysis takes place in order to uncover in more depth the possible relation between economic integration, regional structural change and cohesion in these countries. To this direction, a number of research questions are addressed: What is the impact of economic integration to the evolution of regional industrial patterns? Have advanced and lagging-behind regions developed similar or different types of specialization? What is their mix of activities? Over time, do they become more similar or dissimilar? Have metropolitan regions the same mix of activities with peripheral and border regions? Do their economic structures become more similar or dissimilar over time? Are there particular types of structural change more closely related to strong growth performance? The main part of the analysis is conducted on a basis of employment data, as a proxy for industrial structures in NUTS III spatial level, disaggregated by manufacturing branches according to NACE rev.1 two-digit classification. Emphasis is given to the countries of Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia due to lack of statistical information (regional-structural figures) for the other countries under research. However, despite this shortcoming, the country sample of our analysis can be considered representative of the whole area since it covers all its parts i.e. Southeastern Europe–Balkans (Bulgaria, Romania), Central Europe (Slovenia, Hungary), Eastern Europe–Baltic (Estonia). The research covers the period between 1990 and 1999, a period of extreme significance since it includes both the shocks and the upsets of the early transition (sub-period 1991–1995) and the recent, more independent, trends (1995–1999). The reported findings and conclusions of this research may be a valuable basis for the understanding of the impact of economic integration on regional structure change and cohesion and, as a result, be the basis for the discussion of the appropriate policies of cohesion in the enlarged EU-27

Peripherality and Integration: Industrial Growth and Decline in the Greek Regions

An empirical model has been deployed to account for regional industrial growth and performance in Greece's post EU-accession period. The results obtained suggest that the effect of European integration on manufacturing has been rather adverse across Greek regions. Regions that are more industrialised, whose structure was more similar to the European average and which have been more exposed to European competition are those that have been more adversely affected. In contrast, higher diversity, higher presence of capital intensive sectors and higher tertiarisation of the regional economies were found to be beneficial to regional industrial growth and performance

Patterns of Regional Specialization and Sectoral Concentration of Industrial Activity in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia

The process of Central and Eastern European Countries’ (CEEC) transition from central planning to market economy has resulted in industrial restructuring and labor reallocation across branches and regions. The paper identifies patterns of industrial activity in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia on a basis of employment data, as a proxy for regional industrial structures, at NUTS III spatial level, disaggregated by manufacturing branches according to NACE rev. 1 two – digit classification. Theil entropy index is used in the analysis in order to evaluate patterns of regional specialization (defined as the distribution of the shares of a sector ? in a region ?) and sectoral concentration (defined as the distribution of the shares of a region in a sector ?). The over time evolution of the process of industrial restructuring represents a proper baseline for the likely distributional implications of the EU enlargement for these countries. Key Words: Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia, industrial restructuring, industrial mix, competitiveness and growth. JEL Classification: L16, R11, R12

Power-imbalanced relationships in the dyadic food chain: An empirical investigation of retailers’ commercial practices with suppliers

Multiple retailers exercise various commercial practices with their suppliers. These practices emanate from a power-imbalanced dyadic relationship largely governed by the heightened retail power. These power-imbalanced, supplier-retailer relationships are the focus of this study. Drawing on the current literature of power-imbalanced relationships in supply chains, we propose and explore a conceptual model illustrating the most significant practices applied in the dyadic, supplier-retailer relationships in the Greek food chain and we evaluate their importance as perceived by suppliers. Insights from qualitative in-depth interviews with various stakeholders and a survey with 398 food suppliers identify dependence, financial goal incompatibility, informational asymmetry and behavioral uncertainty as the most significant determinants of the commercial practices. These practices are grouped into three main categories: upfront payments, unanticipated changes of agreements and negotiation pressures. The importance of these practices for suppliers is highlighted and implications for the supply chain actors beyond the dyad are provided. Significant managerial and policy implications are reported