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

Abstract

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.