Prospects of changes in regional economic structures since EU accession.
Authors
K. Mattas
C. Ciobanu
D. Psaltopoulos
Keywords:
Greece, East Macedonia and Thrace, Input-output analysis, Structural change, Regional development, R100, R150, R580
Abstract
In recent years, the European Union (EU ) has expanded by including two additional
“less developed” new members, Bulgaria and Romania, and in the near future
several other neighboring countries are on the list. The case of the region of
East Macedonia and Thrace, a remote region that neighbors Bulgaria, might offer
some insights into the changes which will occur in the economy of these new EU
members. Changes in the structure of the regional economy are traced by estimated
various indices of structural changes using two input-output tables, the
1980 I-O, a year before Greece’s accession to EU , and the 1997 I-O, one and a half
decade after the implementation of several EU supported programmes. The cause
of structural changes cannot be identified by applying this methodology, only
the final outcome in terms of sectoral structure. Results reveal that significant
transformations took place in this regional economy altering the interdependence
between producing and consuming sectors. It is not clear that this change
has moved the whole regional economy to a more competitive level as highly
supported sectors grew substantially.