IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa14p647.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Identifying Clusters of Regions in the European South, based on their Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Vasileios Angelis
  • Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis
  • Katerina Dimaki

Abstract

Regional development has been in the centre of interest among both academics but also decision makers in the central and local governments of many European countries. Identifying the key problems that regions face and considering how these findings could be effectively used as a basis for planning their development process are essential in order to improve the conditions in the European Union regions. For a long period of time a country's or a region's development has been synonymous with its economic growth. Over the last years, however, economies and societies have been undergoing dramatic changes. These changes have led to the concept of sustainable development, which refers to the ability of our societies to meet the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Measuring sustainable development means going beyond a purely economic description of human activities; requires integration of economic, social and environmental concerns. New techniques are required in order to benchmark performance, highlight leaders and laggards on various aspects of development and facilitate efforts to identify best practices. Furthermore, new tools have to be designed so as to make sustainability decision-making more objective, systematic and rigorous. The growth or decline of a country or region depends on its power to pull and retain both business and the right blend of people to run them. Working in this context, we have so far defined a variable which is called the image of a region and quantifies this pulling power. The region's image is a function of a multitude of factors physical, economic, social and environmental, some common for all potential movers and some specific for particular groups of them and expresses its present state of development and future prospects. The paper examines a number of south European countries and focuses on their NUTS 2 level regions. Its objective is to: * Estimate the Basic Image values of those regions. * Group those regions into different clusters on the basis of the values of the various factors used to define their respective Basic Images. * Present and discuss the results.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasileios Angelis & Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis & Katerina Dimaki, 2014. "Identifying Clusters of Regions in the European South, based on their Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics," ERSA conference papers ersa14p647, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p647
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa14/e140826aFinal00647.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Llewellyn, John, 1996. "Tackling Europe's Competitiveness," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 87-96, Autumn.
    2. Edward Malecki, 2004. "Jockeying for Position: What It Means and Why It Matters to Regional Development Policy When Places Compete," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(9), pages 1101-1120.
    3. Gillian Bristow, 2005. "Everyone's a 'winner': problematising the discourse of regional competitiveness," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 285-304, June.
    4. Vasilis Angelis & Katerina Dimaki, 2011. "A Region's Basic Image as a Measure of its Attractiveness," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 4(2), pages 7-33, August.
    5. Boschma, Ron & Lambooy, Jan, 1999. "Why do old industrial regions decline? An exploration of potential adjustment strategies," ERSA conference papers ersa99pa061, European Regional Science Association.
    6. John Lovering, 2001. "The Coming Regional Crisis (And How To Avoid It)," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 349-354.
    7. Ann Markusen, 1996. "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 293-313, July.
    8. S L Handy & D A Niemeier, 1997. "Measuring Accessibility: An Exploration of Issues and Alternatives," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(7), pages 1175-1194, July.
    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. Vasilis Angelis & Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis & Katerina Dimaki, 2016. "Identifying Clusters of Regions in the European South, based on their Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 3, pages 71-102.
    2. VASILIS ANGELIS & Athanasios Angelis-Dimakis & Katerina Dimaki, 2012. "The Role Of Environment In A Region’S Sustainable Development As Described By A Butterfly Catastrophe," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1157, European Regional Science Association.
    3. Vassilis Angelis & Ioanna Tsoka & Katerina Dimaki, 2011. "Tourism as a means of developing isolated regions: Defining the Image of a tourism destination from the demand and supply side," ERSA conference papers ersa11p1895, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Peter Mayerhofer & Oliver Fritz & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2010. "Dritter Bericht zur internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Wiens," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 42430, April.
    5. Vasilis Angelis & Katerina Dimaki, 2011. "A Region's Basic Image as a Measure of its Attractiveness," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 4(2), pages 7-33, August.
    6. Edward J Malecki, 2007. "Cities and Regions Competing in the Global Economy: Knowledge and Local Development Policies," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 25(5), pages 638-654, October.
    7. Martijn J. Burger & Bert van der Knaap & Ronald S. Wall, 2013. "Revealed competition for greenfield investments between European regions," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 619-648, July.
    8. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Tobias D. Ketterer, 2012. "Do Local Amenities Affect The Appeal Of Regions In Europe For Migrants?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 535-561, October.
    9. Robert Huggins & Hiro Izushi, 2009. "Regional Benchmarking in a Global Context: Knowledge, Competitiveness, and Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 23(4), pages 275-293, November.
    10. H.S. Geyer, 2011. "Creativity, Wellbeing and Urban Sustainability: Areas in Which the North and the South Can Learn from Each Other," Chapters, in: H. S. Geyer (ed.), International Handbook of Urban Policy, Volume 3, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Mingzhi Hu & Zhenguo Lin & Yingchun Liu, 2023. "Amenities, Housing Affordability, and Education Elites," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 141-168, January.
    12. Jennifer Clark, 2010. "Coordinating a conscious geography: the role of research centers in multi-scalar innovation policy and economic development in the US and Canada," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 35(5), pages 460-474, October.
    13. Mulatu, Abay, 2016. "On the concept of 'competitiveness' and its usefulness for policy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 50-62.
    14. Evgeny V. Popov & Dmitry M. Kochetkov, 2019. "Developing the Regional Knowledge Economy Index: a Case of Russian Regions," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1860-1878, December.
    15. repec:rre:publsh:v:40:y:2010:i:2:p:197-226 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Robert Huggins & Andrew Johnston, 2009. "Knowledge Networks in an Uncompetitive Region: SME Innovation and Growth," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 227-259, June.
    17. Philip Boland, 2007. "Unpacking the Theory-Policy Interface of Local Economic Development: An Analysis of Cardiff and Liverpool," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(5-6), pages 1019-1039, May.
    18. Robert Huggins & Hiro Izushi & Daniel Prokop & Piers Thompson, 2014. "Regional competitiveness, economic growth and stages of development," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 32(2), pages 255-283.
    19. H. S. Geyer (ed.), 2011. "International Handbook of Urban Policy, Volume 3," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12831.
    20. KAPITSINIS, Nikolaos & METAXAS, Theodore & DUQUENNE, Marie Noelle, 2013. "Exploring The Coherence And The Meaning Of Territorial Competition: Do National States Behave In The Same Way As Firms In Case Of Default?. The Cases Of Greece And Dubai," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 13(2), pages 57-72.
    21. David Bailey & Nigel Driffield, 2007. "Industrial Policy, FDI and Employment: Still ‘Missing a Strategy’," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 189-211, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Development; Region?s Image; Cluster Analysis; European Regions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • C65 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Miscellaneous Mathematical Tools
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa14p647. 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: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    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.