Regional Inequalities in Greece During a Time of Flux
Öz
Following the 2008 global financial crisis Eurozone countries and specifically countries at the periphery suffer severely reminding the rise of depression economics among the region. Originating from its fiscal troubles Greece is one of the countries which has been heavily hit by the adverse effects of the crisis. Keeping discussions on the macroeconomic fundamentals of Greece on one side, this study diverts the attention towards the extent and path of regional inequalities with specific focus on the post 2000 turmoil period in Greece. Our findings indicate the existence of a long convergence episode in Greece from 1980s and onwards with no exception during the crisis. We also find strong evidence for the existence of spatial spillovers with some cyclical behaviour. However, our additional analyses identify that spatial dependence and heterogeneity works together for the Greek case, resulting in sizable spatial variability in the speed of convergence accelerating during the post crisis period. Moreover, we discuss that observed post crisis convergence is a downward one which shifts its geographic extent reminding the possibility of a reshuffling among the Greek regions.
Anahtar Kelimeler
convergence, Greece, spatial inequalities
Teşekkür
Previous versions of this article are presented at the 44th Annual RSAI-BIS Conference of Regional Science Association International – British & Irish Section (2015), 81st International Atlantic Economic Congress (2016). Authors are grateful for the comments of the conference participants. B. C. Karahasan acknowledges the scientific research support of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (Tübitak, 2014-2015). Some of the materials used in this publication are from Karahasan B.C. & Monastriotis V. Spatial Structure and Spatial Dynamics of Regional Incomes in Greece published in Political Economy Perspectives on the Greek Crisis edited by Bournakis I., Tsoukis C., Christopoulos D. K., Palivos T. (2017), Palgrave Macmillan and reproduced with the permission of Palgrave Macmillan.
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