HOW DOES SECTOR CONCENTRATION EVOLVE AT COUNTRY AND REGION LEVELS? THE EUROPEAN CASE

This paper analyzes the evolution of the three main economic sectors – agriculture, industry and services – at the level of European countries and regions. We base our analysis on the Theil index constructed using European gross value added data for 23 EU countries and compare it to regional data for a ten-year period (from 1995 to 2004). Our results show that the most difficult challenges posed by the unequal concentration in the main sectors appear at the wider region not the country level. It will therefore be necessary to devise new regional policies that take into account these disparities.sectors analysis, spatial concentration, European regions, Theil index, integration