Tag: R58

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND Β-CONVERGENCE IN EUROPE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM REGIONAL PANEL DATA, 2011-2023

Evgenia ANASTASIOU

Researcher, Department of Business Administration, University of Thessaly, Gaiopolis, Larissa Ringroad, 41500 Larisa, Greece

evanastasiou@uth.gr

Abstract

This paper examines regional economic growth and β-convergence across European regions using panel data for 233 NUTS-2 regions over the period 2011–2023. The analysis explores whether regions with lower initial income levels experience faster growth and investigates the factors associated with regional growth dynamics. The empirical framework relies on alternative panel data specifications to assess the robustness of the convergence process and to examine the role of key economic and demographic variables. The results indicate the presence of β-convergence among European regions, suggesting that regions with lower initial levels of economic development tend to grow more rapidly over time. Investment activity and migration dynamics emerge as important determinants of regional economic performance, whereas labour and demographic variables show less stable effects across model specifications. Using a recent dataset covering both the post-financial crisis and post-pandemic period, the paper provides updated evidence on regional convergence patterns in Europe. The analysis also reveals differences in convergence dynamics across groups of regions, indicating that structural characteristics and regional conditions influence the pace of economic adjustment. These findings contribute to the empirical literature on regional growth and offer insights relevant to regional development and cohesion policies in the European Union.

Keywords: Regional economic growth, β-convergence, regional disparities, panel data analysis, European regions

JEL classification: O47, R11, R12, R58

pp. 147-158

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ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY AND INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN IN NATIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING: AN EX-ANTE EVALUATION OF THE “ANTONIS TRITSIS” PROGRAM IN GREECE

Evangelos MAKRYVELIOS

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Political Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 105 59, Greece

vmakrivelios@ba.uoa.gr

(Corresponding AUTHOR)

Theodore PAPADOGONAS

Professor, Department of Business Administration, School of Economics and Political Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 105 59, Greece

thpap@ba.uoa.gr

Abstract

This paper discusses the design, administrative sufficiency, and perceived efficiency of the Antonis Tritsis special development program to support the local government in Greece. The analysis will take an ex-ante evaluation which will look at the capacity of an administration, the institution design and the conditions of implementation of programs directly than the actual economic outcomes. The empirical research is founded on theoretical questionnaire and structured interviews with top managers, who are personally engaged in the program designing, financing, and monitoring, and is supported with S.W.O.T. analysis. The goal is to embed the perceptions of the strategic appropriateness, institutional functionality as well as implementation constraints with an focus on the inequality in administrative capacity between the municipalities and institutional complexity. The results indicate that the program can be viewed as strategically significant and financially innovative especially because the entire funding of the project financial sources was in place. At the same time, limitations related to the uneven administrative capacity of local authorities, institutional complexity, and the need to strengthen technical support, especially for small and island municipalities, are highlighted. The study contributes to the literature on local governance by offering evidence-based policy guidance for the design of more effective and equitable funding programs.

Keywords: E-ante evaluation, administrative capacity, public investments, local government, Greece

JEL classification: H70, H72, R10, R50, R58, D73

pp. 13-36

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REGIONAL ECONOMIC RESILIENCE AND TOURISM DEMAND: THE CASE OF GREECE

Dimitrios TSIOTAS

Assistant Professor, Department of Regional and Economic Development; Agricultural University of Athens; Drosou Kravvartogiannou, Nea Poli; Amfissa 33100, Greece,

tsiotas@aua.gr

(Corresponding Author)

Thomas KRABOKOUKIS

Ph.D, Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, Volos, 38334, Greece,

tkrabokoukis@uth.gr

Dimitrios KANTIANIS

Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, School of Business, University of the Aegean, 8, Michalon St., GR-82132 Chios, Greece;

dkantianis@aegean.gr

Abstract

The resilience of spatial economies is driven by a high degree of complexity, as the behavior of economic systems, both in response to disturbances from their external environment and to the transformative dynamics that develop internally, is a multivariable process depending on economic, structural, social, geographic, environmental, institutional, political, and other related factors. Conceptualizing the inherent capacity of economic systems to resist, recover, adapt, or evolve when faced with different types and forms of disturbances, the study of regional economic resilience can shed light both on the mechanisms promoting regional development and on the design of more targeted regional policy actions. Assuming that an economic crisis can be interpreted as a ‘disturbance’ to the functional equilibrium of open economies, this paper examines the extent to which the 2008 economic crisis affected the resilience of Greece’s regions in terms of their tourism demand. The study focuses on tourism, considered one of the country’s key economic sectors, and analyzes tourism demand data (accommodation occupancy) and annual employment for the period January 2000 – December 2018, using a three-dimensional (3D) economic resilience index recently proposed by Tsiotas and Katsaiti (2025), along with location quotients and statistical analysis techniques. The research investigates the extent to which a region’s sectoral specialization is related to aspects of its economic resilience in tourism demand, providing insights into the spatial asymmetry that generally characterizes the relationship between a region’s basic sector and the vulnerability of its economy due to its core specialization.

Keywords: three-dimensional (3D) economic resilience index, engineering resilience, ecological resilience, evolutionary resilience, regional economics and development, tourism economics and development

JEL classification: R11, R15, R58, Z32

pp. 101-116

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