IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v8y1990i4p455-476.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional Distribution of Industry and the Role of the State in Greece

Author

Listed:
  • L Labrianidis

    (Department of Economics, Graduate Industrial School of Thessaloniki, PO Box 10380, 54110 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • N Papamichos

    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Thessaloniki, 54006 Thessaloniki, Greece)

Abstract

This paper is an examination of how state policies have influenced the spatial distribution of industry in Greece throughout the period after World War 2. The focus is only on those aspects of state policy that directly influence the spatial distribution of industry, that is regional policy, which was always orientated, in theory at least, towards the vague notion of the ‘more even’ regional development of the country. It is argued that state regional policies were not on the whole successful. The regional incentives system for industry in particular, which was the most important instrument of state regional policy, was quite inadequate, and, moreover, its cost to society increased steadily while its contribution towards a more even spatial distribution of industry was marginal. That is, the incentives system does not seem to have facilitated the regional reorganisation of industry in the sense of diminishing the spatial inequalities in the distribution of industrial activities. It was not ‘accidental’ that the regional incentives system, with its innate weaknesses and increasing cost, survived for so long, despite the fact that it was ineffective. Its survival can be explained in terms of the particular characteristics of Greek society, such as the predominance of the political over the economic sphere and the prevalence of clientelism in politics. In such a context the innate weaknesses of the incentives system allowed certain groups of people to enjoy economic benefits with noneconomic means.

Suggested Citation

  • L Labrianidis & N Papamichos, 1990. "Regional Distribution of Industry and the Role of the State in Greece," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 8(4), pages 455-476, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:8:y:1990:i:4:p:455-476
    DOI: 10.1068/c080455
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/c080455
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/c080455?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Moore, Barry & Rhodes, John & Tarling, Roger, 1978. "Industrial Policy and Economic Development: The Experience of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 2(1), pages 99-114, March.
    2. Tyler, Peter, 1980. "The Impact of Regional Policy on a Prosperous Region: The Experience of the West Midlands," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(1), pages 151-162, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juan David Barón & Gerson Javier pérez & Peter Rowland, 2004. "A Regional Economic Policy for Colombia," Revista de Economía del Rosario, Universidad del Rosario, December.
    2. R T Harrison, 1986. "Industrial Development Policy and the Restructuring of the Northern Ireland Economy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 4(1), pages 53-70, March.
    3. Peter Elias & Geoffrey Keogh, 1982. "Industrial Decline and Unemployment in the Inner City Areas of Great Britain: a Review of the Evidence," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Munday, Max & Pickernell, David & Roberts, Annette, 1999. "The Effectiveness of Regional Grant Aid: A Welsh Perspective," ERSA conference papers ersa99pa321, European Regional Science Association.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:8:y:1990:i:4:p:455-476. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.