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Specialisation Vs Diversification. Which One Better Upholds Regional Resilience to Economic Crises?

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  • Goschin Zizi

    (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies and Institute of National Economy, Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

As economic crises periodically disrupt the economic activity, a large and continuously growing literature was dedicated to understanding the reasons behind the crises, their mechanism, effects and, most of all, the determinants of resilience capacity, and the ability to overcome hardships by adapting and changing. By preparing in advance for economic shocks through resilience building during good times, the impact of economic crises can be attenuated. Starting from these considerations, the paper focuses on regional economic specialization and its opposite – economic diversification, two business strategies already acknowledged in the literature as relevant factors for the capacity to mitigate economic crises. We tested the hypothesis of vulnerability-inducing economic specialization in the Romanian economy, using NUTS3 level data and found that more diversified regional economies were better at coping with the hardships triggered by the recent recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Goschin Zizi, 2019. "Specialisation Vs Diversification. Which One Better Upholds Regional Resilience to Economic Crises?," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 11-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:jsesro:v:8:y:2019:i:2:p:11-23:n:2
    DOI: 10.2478/jses-2019-0002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Alexandru Pavel & Bogdan Andrei Moldovan & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2020. "Urban or Rural: Does It Make A Difference for Economic Resilience? A Modelling Study on Economic and Cultural Geography in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-39, May.
    3. Tessa Conroy & Steven Deller, 2023. "I will survive…but at what (opportunity) cost?: A spatial analysis of business survival and Jacobian externalities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 550-571, June.
    4. Silva, Jordana Ferreira da & Silva, Fernanda Faria & Leal, Alan Marques Miranda & Oliveira, Héder Carlos de, 2021. "Regional economic resilience and mining in the State of Minas Gerais/Brazil: The barriers of productive specialisation to formal employment and tax management," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    specialization; economic resilience; spatial model; region;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R15 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Methods

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