Regional Productive Specialisation and Inequality in the European Union

This paper examines productive specialization in the regions of the European Union over the period 1977 to 1999 using the information provided by various methodological instruments. The results obtained reveal a process of convergence in regional productive structures during the twenty-three years considered. This has been due to the behavior of regions with high levels of specialization at the start of the period, whose productive structures have tended to shift to wards the European average overtime. The analysis carried out also high lights the major role played by regional size, level of development and geographical location in explaining specialization in the European context. Finally, the empirical evidence provided suggests that changes in regional productive structures are closely linked to the evolution of the spatial distribution of per capita income in the European Union. Keywords: Specialization, economic activity, regions, European Union. JEL Code: F15, R11, R12.

Inequality and Regional Development within the European Union

The aim of this paper, which forms part of a wider research project, is to analyse changes in regional disparity in the European Union between 1977 and 1999 by calculating the level of internal and external inequality in various groupings of regions. Our calculations are based on the Theil (0) and Theil (1) indices commonly used in the literature dealing with inequality. The regions are grouped by countries, economic development level and sectoral specialisation. After observing the evolution of internal and external disparity in the different geographical groupings, we assess the impact of politics and economic development on the various outcomes

Regional Productive Specialisation and Inequality in the European Union

This paper examines productive specialization in the regions of the European Union over the period 1977 to 1999 using the information provided by various methodological instruments. The results obtained reveal a process of convergence in regional productive structures during the twenty-three years considered. This has been due to the behavior of regions with high levels of specialization at the start of the period, whose productive structures have tended to shift to wards the European average overtime. The analysis carried out also high lights the major role played by regional size, level of development and geographical location in explaining specialization in the European context. Finally, the empirical evidence provided suggests that changes in regional productive structures are closely linked to the evolution of the spatial distribution of per capita income in the European Union. Keywords: Specialization, economic activity, regions, European Union. JEL Code: F15, R11, R12

El problema de distribución de fondos para el desarrollo. Un método alternativo aplicado al FCl y al FEDER

El último informe periódico sobre la situación y desarrollo de las Regiones de la Comunidad, se afirma que: «Las regiones comunitarias más prósperas y con una economía más desarrollada cuentan en general con mejores infraestructuras y un capital humano más abundante que las regiones retrasadas, que normalmente presentan graves deficiencias». Teniendo en cuenta el conocido papel de las dotaciones de infraestructura y capital humano en la competitividad regional, la creación de una mayor igualdad de oportunidades para todos los ciudadanos y empresas europeas, donde quiera que estén localizados, requiere seguir reduciendo las diferencias en las dotaciones mencionadas. Este trabajo tiene por objeto analizar el problema de la distribución interregional del Fondo de Compensación interterritorial (FCI) y del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). Ambos instrumentos, además de satisfacer la vocación compensadora de la política regional, han de ser repartidos de modo que se tienda a igualar las oportunidades de desarrollo de las distintas regiones. E l contenido de la comunicación, en primer lugar, se plantea el modelo teórico denominado "Igualdad de Oportunidades para el Desarrollo". A continuación, se describe sintéticamente los modos de reparto reales de dichos fondos. Finalmente, se lleva cabo un ejercicio ilustrativo de simulación del reparto alternativo de acuerdo con los criterios derivados de este enfoque

Topological derivative inversion method tested against microwave experimental data

The Fresnel database consists of data collected from experiments where different objects are irradiated by time-harmonic electromagnetic (micro)waves. The purpose of this database is twofold, one the one hand it eases the comparison and testing of inversion methods from different research groups against the same data. On the other hand it allows the testing against experimental data to groups without access to a laboratory. Topological derivative and Topological energy based methods are powerful techniques to reconstruct objects from such experimental microwave data. They have a very low computational cost as they are one step methods. They can be computed from closed-form solutions. The quality of the reconstructions is comparable to the best of the other methods tested against the Fresnel database.Depto. de Análisis Matemático y Matemática AplicadaFac. de Ciencias MatemáticasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICCIN)/FEDERsubmitte