Tag: R12

REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT IN PORTUGAL: DIFFERENCES AND CYCLICAL SYNCHRONISATION

Leonida CORREIA

Assistant Professor Department of Economy, Sociology and Management (DESG), Centre for Transdisciplinary Development Studies (CETRAD), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) Quinta de Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal. Tel: +351 259 350699;

lcorreia@utad.pt

Marina ALVES

Master’s degree in Economic and Management Sciences in UTAD

alves2_marina@hotmail.com

Abstract

This paper analyses the specificities of employment in Portuguese regions at a disaggregated level of NUTS III, comparing the differences of several indicators between the last two censuses. It also examines the synchronisation of regional employment cycles over the 2000-2014 period, using the information provided for the new nomenclature of NUTS. The comparison of several employment’s characteristics (total and by sex, age group, sector of activity and main occupation) across the 7 regions and 25 sub-regions allowed us to conclude that Portugal is marked by substantial regional specificities. The analysis of the evolution of employment ‘cycles highlight the substantial reduction in the employment rate since the beginning of the 2000s, with particular intensity in the period of the recent crisis, and considerable differences across regions and at the intraregional level. The results from the synchronisation reveal a great heterogeneity in the degree of correlation between the sub-national cycles and the national cycle. Additionally, they suggest that, in general, the cyclical pattern of the sub-regions is more closely related to the regions that they belong to than that of the Portuguese cycle. The paper concludes that this heterogeneity should be addressed in the context of policy making, by means to construct appropriate responses to counteract the regional differences.

Keywords: employment, disparities, cycles, Portuguese regions

JEL classification: E32, J21, R11, R12

read more

AGGLOMERATION ECONOMICS IN REGIONS: THE CASE IN THE RUSSIAN INDUSTRY

Svetlana RASTVORTSEVA

World Economy Department – National Research University Higher School of Economics, Russia, http://www.hse.ru

Srartvortseva@gmail.ru

Abstract

The paper deals with the issues of economic activity location in the Russian regions, that is influ-enced not only by factors “first nature” – the presence of minerals, fertile land, favorable geographic position, but also factors of a “second nature”, in particular, the agglomeration effects and the econ-omy of scale. Analysis of geographic concentration and regional specialization reflects the general trend of the location of industrial production, investment and human resources, provides the necessary information basis for a balanced economic policy.

Keywords: New Economic Geography, Regional Economics, Location Theory, the Geographic Concentration of Economic Activity, Regions of Russia

JEL classification: R11, R12

read more

REGIONAL STRATEGIES FOR DEALING WITH STRUCTURAL CHANGE

Eleonora CUTRINI

Associate Professor, Department of Law, University of Macerata

eleonora.cutrini@unimc.it

Enzo VALENTINI

Research Fellow,Department of Political Sciences, Communication and International Relations, University of Macerata

enzo.valentini@unimc.it

Abstract

In recent decades, the low economic performance of European countries has been mainly responsible for the emergence of an economic policy increasingly intended to strengthen the innovative and technology capacity of regions. In particular, the European periphery is lagging behind in the transition to a knowledge driven and eventually service-oriented economy. In a general context of de-industrialization and transition to service economy, and bearing in mind the policy debate at the EU level, the aim of this paper is to analyze the factors driving knowledge-intensive service specialization at the regional level in Italy. Our main research questions here can be summarized as follows: What determines the transition to Services and the specialization in Knowledge-Intensive Services (KIS) in Italy? What are the structural characteristics that may explain the regional variation of employment share in high-knowledge services? Using data on Italian regions over the period 1995-2014 (and spatial panel models as a methodology), the analysis carried out in the paper suggests some considerations: the “mere” (but needed) transition to service activities can be positively associated with R&D Personnel, Tertiary Education, University Attractiveness, Tourism and efficient infrastructure (Railroad). But the transition to Knowledge Intensive Services, supposed to pay higher wages, may deserve a more appropriate and focused public intervention, in view of the fact that it seems to be mainly associated with Public R&D, Tertiary Education and University Attractiveness.

Keywords: Structural Change, Specialization, Spatial Panels, Regional Economy

JEL classification: I25, O32, R11, R12

read more