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Economic Crisis And Regional Disparities

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  • VASILIS ANGELIS
  • Eleni Gaki
  • Katerina Dimaki
  • Nikolaos-Iason Koufodontis

Abstract

Europe as we know it, the European Union of 27 countries, has evolved from the European Coal and Steel Union of a few developed countries in a comprehensive economic and political union, which now embraces and unites most of the European continent (EU 2011). Each successive transformation and enlargement of the Union has brought in new people and countries with large differences and particularities. Countries of southern Europe and later the former eastern socialist republics joined the initial core of the developed Western economies. Today, between countries of the European Union, different zones are distinguished in relation to levels of economic and social development. One group consists of the prosperous western and northern economies and includes countries such as Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, or Denmark. The second group includes regional and Mediterranean countries with less developed economies such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece or Ireland. Finally, the third group includes countries of former Eastern economies, relatively weak, completing the transition from socialism to capitalism. In this group are countries such as Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Latvia. The existence of many different countries in a broad geographic area designates the regional problem at three levels. The first level concerns the groups of countries mentioned above. At a second level variation exists within countries. Finally, at a third level, in the unified Europe, differences are between regions across national borders. Many studies argue that while disparities between member countries are decreasing gradually, the disparities within countries are increasing. As a result, the overall gap between the rich and developed regions on one hand and the less developed regions on the other hand is expanding. The current economic crisis has affected almost all European countries but the countries of the European south and the former eastern socialist republics have suffered the most. Our objective in this paper is to quantify regional disparities as expressed by several growth indicators, such as GDP per capita, employment/unemployment rates, household savings and use them to compare the regional disparities at the three levels described above before and after the crisis. Keywords: Economic Crisis, Regional Disparities, GDP, Unemployment. JEL Classification: R10, R11, R15 Other possible choices for the theme: E or special session ZJ

Suggested Citation

  • VASILIS ANGELIS & Eleni Gaki & Katerina Dimaki & Nikolaos-Iason Koufodontis, 2012. "Economic Crisis And Regional Disparities," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1158, European Regional Science Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p1158
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    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa12/e120821aFinal01167.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. von Hagen, Jürgen & Schuknecht, Ludger & Wolswijk, Guido, 2011. "Government bond risk premiums in the EU revisited: The impact of the financial crisis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 36-43, March.
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    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:462129 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Michael G. Arghyrou & John D. Tsoukalas, 2011. "The Greek Debt Crisis: Likely Causes, Mechanics and Outcomes," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(2), pages 173-191, February.
    5. Kevin Featherstone, 2011. "The JCMS Annual Lecture: The Greek Sovereign Debt Crisis and EMU: A Failing State in a Skewed Regime," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(2), pages 193-217, March.
    6. Stéphanie Guichard & Elena Rusticelli, 2010. "Assessing the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Structural Unemployment in OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 767, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Michálek Anton & Podolák Peter & Madajová Michala Sládeková, 2018. "Dynamics of regional disparities in Slovakia in 2001 and 2011," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 42(42), pages 99-114, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic crisis; regional disparities; gdp; unemployment. jel classification: r10; r11; r15 other possible choices for the theme: e or special session zj;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • 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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