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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2015‒06‒20
nineteen papers chosen by João José de Matos Ferreira Universidade da Beira Interior |
| By: | Victor LAVRIC (The Bucharest University of Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | The transition to the knowledge-based economy that we are facing now, with different degrees of intensity, has an overwhelming impact on the role of R&D and innovation, therefore it is of great interest for public and private actors to adequately assess the right tools for fostering knowledge creation and competitiveness growth within the new context. As SMEs are considered to be one of the main areas in the economy that combines both the need for support/attention and the potential to deliver growth and progress, we have focused in our paper on the investigation of some specific characteristics of the Romanian entrepreneurs and managers that are involved in innovation and R&D activities. The data we use in our analysis was collected from more than one thousand small and medium-sized enterprises during 2014, thus giving us the possibility to address in a coherent and complex way the issues regarding R&D and innovation. This paper contributes not only to a better understanding of the Romanian entrepreneurs that innovate and carry out research and development activities, but also to the elaboration of specific proposals regarding the design and substance of the public projects that aim to support R&D an innovation activities. |
| Keywords: | R&D, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Knowledge-based economy, Romania |
| JEL: | L26 O31 O32 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2504279&r=cse |
| By: | Attila Havas (Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Given the economic, societal and environmental relevance of innovation, this paper contrasts various models of innovation, compares how innovation is understood in mainstream economics and evolutionary economics of innovation and juxtaposes the concomitant policy rationales. By discussing two monitoring tools used by the European Commission to assess its member states’ innovation performance, it argues that the science-push model of innovation is still highly influential in the EC STI policy circles, in spite of the significance of non-R&D types of knowledge in innovation processes. Then it explores various types of opportunity costs stemming from the persistent high-tech myth, considers possible historical and sociological reasons for its perseverance and discusses policy implications of the systemic view of innovation, with an emphasis on the case of the EU10 countries. Policy conclusions include: i) several policies affect innovation processes and performance, perhaps even more strongly than STI policies, and hence policy goals and tools need to be orchestrated across several policy domains; ii) STI policies should promote learning and knowledge-intensive activities in all sectors, including low- and medium-technology industries and services; iii) analysts and policy-makers need to avoid the trap of paying too much attention to simplifying ranking exercises; iv) new indicators that better reflect the evolutionary processes of learning and innovation would be needed to support analysis and policy-making; v) the choice of an economics paradigm to guide policy evaluation is likely to be decisive. |
| Keywords: | Innovation processes; Sources, forms and types of knowledge; Models of innovation; High-tech myth; Low- and medium-technology sectors; Economics paradigms; STI policy rationales; Measurement of innovation; Composite indicators; Scoreboards, league tables; European Commission; Central and Eastern European countries |
| JEL: | O31 O38 B52 Y10 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1517&r=cse |
| By: | Carlos Bianchi (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Guillermo Lezama (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Adriana Peluffo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the determinants of firms' innovation in the Uruguayan manufacturing industry. It describes the Uruguayan innovation surveys, the national background and the recent use of innovation indicators. It is an empirical work which presents results from the first panel data built on all the micro data of the Uruguayan innovation survey between 1998-2009. The results confirm that the innovative propensity in the Uruguayan industry is determined by the firm's export behaviour and by the linkages with the NIS, but, mainly by the size of the firm. |
| Keywords: | innovation surveys, panel data, Uruguay |
| JEL: | L25 L60 O30 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-07-15&r=cse |
| By: | Guidi, Francesco; Solomon, Edna; Trushin, Eshref; Ugur, Mehmet |
| Abstract: | Theoretical and empirical work on innovation and firm survival has produced varied and often conflicting findings. In this paper, we draw on Schumpeterian models of competition and innovation and stochastic models of firm dynamics to demonstrate that the conflicting findings may be due to linear specifications of the innovation-survival relationship. We demonstrate that a quadratic specification is appropriate theoretically and fits the data well. Our findings from an unbalanced panel of 39,705 UK firms from 1997-2012 indicate that an inverted-U relationship holds for different types of R&D expenditures and sources of funding. We also report that R&D intensity is more likely to increase survival when firms are in more concentrated industries and in Pavitt technology classes consisting of specialized suppliers of technology and scale-intensive industries. Finally, we report that the effects of firm and industry characteristics as well as macroeconomic environment indicators are all consistent with prior findings. The results are robust to step-wise modeling, controlling for left truncation and use of lagged values to address potential simultaneity bias. |
| Keywords: | innovation,R&D,firm dynamics,survival anaysis |
| JEL: | C41 D21 D22 L1 O3 |
| Date: | 2015–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:110896&r=cse |
| By: | Hollenstein, Heinz; Berger, Martin |
| Abstract: | The study seeks to identify the determinants of a firm's foreign entry mode choice and the impact of mode selection on firm performance for the specific case of R&D - a topic so far not investigated in entry mode research. Separate estimates of a Heckman selection model for Austria and Switzerland, based on comparable firm-level data and variable specification, show for both countries that the OLI model is well-suited to explain not only the propensity to investing abroad in R&D but also the respective choice between equity-based and non-equity governance modes. Moreover, it turns out, but only for Swiss companies, that foreign R&D raises (domestic) firm performance with a larger impact in case of equity-based governance. The differences between the two countries primarily reflect the much higher degree of R&D internationalisation of Switzerland. |
| Keywords: | internationalisation of R&D,foreign R&D entry mode choice,international R&D cooperation |
| JEL: | F23 L24 O32 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201539&r=cse |
| By: | Byung S. Min; Russell Smyth |
| Abstract: | We examine both the determinants of corporate research and development (R&D) intensity, and its impact on firm value, in Korea, a country in which family business groups are dominant and in which corporate-funded R&D intensity is one of the highest in the world. We find that growth opportunities, size of the firm and payment to executive board members have a positive effect on R&D intensity, while leverage has a negative effect on R&D intensity. When leverage is at an extremely high level, the relationship between growth opportunities and R&D intensity turns from positive to negative. The positive effect of firm size on R&D intensity is larger, the greater the number of subsidiaries the firm has, consistent with the firm engaging in cross-subsidisation. The positive effect of payments to executive board members on R&D intensity is smaller for chaebol affiliates than for stand-alone firms. Using instrument variables we find that R&D generates an increase in firm value. |
| Keywords: | family business; R&D; innovative economy; firm value; chaebol |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2015-25&r=cse |
| By: | Guillem ACHERMANN (Lab.RII/Clersé (UMR 8019), Université de Lille 1) |
| Abstract: | Pour effectuer sa transition économique d’une économie de rente vers une économie de l’innovation, la Russie a initié une politique territoriale d’innovation. L’implantation de clusters devient alors un atout pour favoriser l’émergence d’innovations. La transition économique des années 1990 vers une « nouvelle » économie de marché a permis à la Russie de restructurer son système organisationnel et productif. Cependant, pour que les « clusters territoriaux d’innovation » russes deviennent des moteurs de croissance économique, il est nécessaire de prendre en compte la complexité des trajectoires territoriales. To put forward its economic transition from a rent-based economy to an innovation economy, Russia has initiated its regional innovation policy. The implementation of clusters becomes an asset that will foster innovations. The economic transition of the 1990s to a "new" market economy has enabled Russia to restructure its organizational and productive system. However, to allow the Russian "territorial innovation clusters" to become engines of economic growth, it is necessary to take into consideration the complexity of local trajectories. |
| Keywords: | transition économique, politique territoriale d'innovation, cluster, Russie |
| JEL: | O18 O38 C38 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rii:rridoc:41&r=cse |
| By: | Aradhna Aggarwal (Indian Studies at Asia Research Center, Department of International Economics and Management at Copenhagen Business School); Takahiro Sato (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan) |
| Abstract: | Over the past two decades, considerable interest has grown in high growth firms (HGFs). However, the concept of HGFs still remains controversial. One of the most controversial issues is size and age of these firms. The present study argues that the current literature on HGFs may offer little help in addressing this issue given the constantly changing population of HGFs. This study uses an alternative conceptual framework and proposes a concept of ‘High Impact Group of Firms’ (HIGF). It explains the HIGFs in the framework of a new stream of literature that focuses on business dynamics, productivity growth and industry evolution, formulates testable hypotheses, and uses a novel methodology to identify it. The empirical analysis is based on the plant level panel data of 22 manufacturing industries in Indian manufacturing during the period 2000-01 to 2005-06. Our empirical results reveal that much depends on the industry/sector specific characteristics. |
| JEL: | L25 L26 O14 O33 O53 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2015-14&r=cse |
| By: | Es-Sadki N.; Arundel A.V. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | We use survey data for 238 European universities and 24 research institutes to examine the effects of regional factors at the NUTS-1 or NUTS-2 level on three knowledge transfer outcomes of public research organisations the number of licence agreements, start-ups and RD agreements with companies. We find that 1 a larger share of regional employment in high and medium-high technology manufacturing sectors in the same region as the public research organisation has a positive impact on the number of licence agreements. 2 A larger share of employment in knowledge-intensive services has a positive impact on the number of start-ups and research agreements, but a negative impact on licence agreements. 3 Competition as measured by the number of public research organisations in a region has a negative impact on all three outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education and Research Institutions; Contracting Out; Joint Ventures; Technology Licensing; New Firms; Startups; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; |
| JEL: | I23 O32 M13 L24 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2015017&r=cse |
| By: | Edquist, Harald (Ericsson Research); Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-1990s value added has grown faster in the Swedish business sector than in the business sector of most other OECD countries. We investigate the association between ICT and R&D capital and value added in the Swedish non-farm business sector. By estimating neoclassical production function models on data for 47 different industries for the period 1993–2012 we show that ICT and R&D capital are significantly associated with value added for most specifications. When controlling for economic shocks the results show that on average, if ICT capital increases by 10 percent, value added increases by 1.8 percent. We also divide ICT capital into hardware and software capital. To our knowledge, this distinction has not been made in any previous study at the industry level. In this case only the estimated elasticity of software is significantly different from zero. One possible explanation could be that all industries invest in hardware, but only the ones that successfully invest in and implement software enjoy positive effects from ICT. |
| Keywords: | ICT; R&D; Industrial change; Panel data |
| JEL: | O14 O32 O33 O47 |
| Date: | 2015–06–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1073&r=cse |
| By: | Valeria Costantini (Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Rome (Italy)); Francesco Crespi (Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Rome (Italy)); Alessandro Palma (Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Rome (Italy)) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical investigation of the role played by selected characteristics of the policy mix in inducing innovation in energy efficiency technologies. An original dataset covering 23 OECD countries over the period 1990-2010 combines the full set of policies in the energy efficiency domain for the residential sector with data on patents applied over the same period in this specific technological sector. The evidence of a positive policy inducement effect on innovation dynamics is enriched by the following main results: i) policy mix comprehensiveness is influential since countries adopting different instruments show a relatively higher positive inducement effect; ii) inconsistency problems between the different tools forming the policy mix may negatively influence innovation activities when the variety of policy instruments becomes excessive; iii) the different instruments forming the policy mix need to be well balanced in their relative strength in order to reduce potential negative lock-in effects; iv) the greater the external balance of the national policy strategy with the policy setting of other similar countries, the higher the inducement effect on the technological dynamics of the investigated country. Several suggestions for implementing effective policy strategies can be made in this case study that can be potentially extended to other technology domains. |
| Keywords: | eco-innovation, policy mix, policy spillovers, energy efficiency, residential sector. |
| JEL: | O31 O38 Q48 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:1115&r=cse |
| By: | SATISH KUMAR (Malaviya National Institute of Technology Jaipur) |
| Abstract: | Purpose-The main aim of present study is to empirically examine the importance of working capital management and its components on the profitability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in India.Design/methodology/approach - We employ panel data regression method on a sample of 433 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from India for the period spanning from 2007 to 2012. Following Deloof (2003); Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) and Tauringana & Afrifa (2013), we use Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) as measure of working capital management and its components (inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable) and Return on Assets (ROA) as the proxy for SMEs profitability.Findings -Using panel data analysis, we find that the number of days of inventory (DI), number of days of accounts receivables (DAR), the number of days of accounts payables (DAP) and cash conversion cycle (CCC) are negatively correlated with profitability of SMEs in India. Results further show that the management of inventory (DI) and accounts receivables (AR) are important for SMEs profitability in India, albiet the latter is relatively less important than inventory management. Overall, our findings are consistent with the earlier work on SMEs by Garcia-Teruel and Martinez-Solano (2007) and Tauringana & Afrifa (2013).Research limitations/implications - Our sample is limited to 433 SMEs, and therefore the findings cannot be generalized to all the SMEs in India.Practical implications -Results of the present study imply that the SMEs in India need to focus their resources on managing inventory and accounts receivables in order to be more profitable.Originality/value-To best of author’s knowledge, the present study is the first to examine the relationship between WCM and its components to SMEs portability in India. The main contribution of this paper is the finding of relative importance of components of working capital management and their differential influence on profitability of SMEs in the Indian context. |
| Keywords: | Working capital management, Cash Conversion Cycle, India, Return on assets, Small to medium-sized enterprises, number of days of inventory. |
| JEL: | F40 G10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503293&r=cse |
| By: | Antonio Baez-Morales (Department of Econometrics. University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The economic role of micro firms is still the subject of much discussion and debate. While these firms can be seen as potential growth drivers, as they are usually related to entrepreneurship, a relatively high share of micro firms can also be a sign of an underdeveloped productive system, which applies especially to developing countries, where micro firms represent the majority of business activity. Unlike other studies, this research separates formal and informal micro firms in order to test whether there are efficiency differences between them, and to explain these differences. One of the novelties of the study is the use of the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method, which enables an analysis of the differences between both groups of firms after controlling for their different allocation of factors. Micro firms in Mexico are taken as a case study, with the Encuesta Nacional de Micronegocios (ENAMIN, or the National Micro Firm Survey), for 2008, 2010 and 2011, used to carry out the analysis. The empirical evidence suggests that output differences can be explained by endowment characteristics, while efficiency differences are explained by endowment returns. The main variables to explain the gap between the groups are the owner’s level of education, the firm’s age, the owner’s motivations, and financing. |
| Keywords: | informality, micro firms, efficiency, productivity, decomposition method. JEL classification: D00, D22, D24 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201510&r=cse |
| By: | Ayoub yousefi (King's University College at Western University, Canada) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether the growing cross-border electronic commerce (CBEC) increases the volume of international trade or merely replaces the traditional mode of physical delivery. We carry out a comparative analysis of trade on Digitizable Products (DP) by developed and developing countries. The study suggests that developing countries have in the recent past penetrated into developed countries’ markets and made up for the fall in their share of world Total trade as well as trade in DP. As a result, electronic delivery of digital products promises benefitting developing countries by gaining deeper access to international markets. This is, in part, due to massive Internet penetration and its continued subscription growth. In addition, digitization of information products is taking place at an ever increasing rate which makes it easier to preserve, access and distribute it through the Internet. Granger causality tests suggest that causality runs form export of Digitizable products to the export of Total products for the group of developing countries, China, Hong Kong and Singapore. The results are in line with our earlier descriptive assessment. This result provides foundation for empirical estimation of the impact of CBEC on the volume of international trade. The paper suggests that given its current magnitude, market efficiency, and growth trajectory, CBEC offers an ‘additional’ basis for explaining the flow of international trade, particularly out of developing countries. As a policy implication, we argue that in the transition period e-commerce creates specific challenges as well as new opportunities for businesses and economies around the world. To facilitate growth of CBEC, nations need to adopt new arrangements at the national and international levels. At the national level, governments should provide support and encourage competition and innovation. Governments should also cooperate at the international level though institutions such as WTO, UNCTAD, and EU to enhance security of the Internet and promote fair and transparent operations of e-commerce. |
| Keywords: | E-Commerce, Cross-border-E-Commerce, International Trade, Granger Causality Test. |
| JEL: | F14 O30 O57 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2504082&r=cse |
| By: | Iimi,Atsushi; Humphreys,Richard Martin; Melibaeva,Sevara |
| Abstract: | Agglomeration economies are among the most important factors in increasing firm productivity. However, there is little evidence supportive of this in Africa. Using the firm registry database in Tanzania, this paper examines a new application of the logit approach with two empirical issues taken into account: spatial autocorrelation and endogeneity of infrastructure placement. The paper finds significant agglomeration economies. It is also found that firms are more likely to be located where local connectivity and access to markets are good. The paper finds that dealing with infrastructure endogeneity and spatial autocorrelation in the empirical model is important. According to the exogeneity test, infrastructure variables are likely endogenous. The spatial autoregressive term is significant. As expected, therefore, there are positive externalities of firm location choice around the neighboring areas. |
| Date: | 2015–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7305&r=cse |
| By: | Marija Zivanovic, Nada Zivanovic (City Kragujevac, Kragujevac, University „Union” Beograd, Faculty for business industrial management, Belgrade) |
| Abstract: | Today, globally operating business world is exposed to constant change processes. Reengineering is the driving force that helps companies, business and manufacturing organizations to achieve success in the new millennium that is full of challenges, risks, information explosion, Internet communications, teleconferencing and global competition. Therefore, effective business strategy, well-trained management personnel, financial - tech resources (IT), management skills and the skills and flexibility (responsiveness) are essential for success in business. Market conditions will be created by people who will decide on the changes, plans and projects, organizational culture, new challenges to create value that can be sold (goods and services) and how to define where consumers expect to buy. In this paper, attention is concentrated on the three most important methods and techniques for strategic business changes, observed through the application re-engineering, including self-assessment, teamwork and benchmarking. |
| Keywords: | business processes, reengineering, benchmarking, teamwork |
| JEL: | D1 L21 M20 |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esb:petprv:2015-115&r=cse |
| By: | Ana-Maria NICA (Bucharest University of Economic Studies) |
| Abstract: | Competitiveness has been the main focus of the recents decades, in both developed and developing economies. A special interest has been given to the issue of raising competitiveness, as a way to achieve sustainable development. The domains of interest for this concern are varied, from IT to Agriculture, Finance or Arts. Tourism is not by far the exeption, as many countries either rely mainly on tourism activities in their economies or have discovered that this sector of the economy is one of the best ways to choose in order to grow and exit the dangerous area of the financial crisis. There are however issues to consider regarding the tourism competitiveness and those have economic, social and environmental grounds. Companies have struggled to go the extra mile in order to grow and become more competitive. However companies - big, medium or small – face great dillemas when considering the ongoing pressure of the competitive tourism market, the specific requirements of tourists and the global trend for more sustainability. The research gap this article adresses relates to how companies can focus on and eventually achieve balancing these aspects. Is tourism competitiveness easier to achieve when counting on collaboration networks? Are tourism clusters a solution for the oftenly encountered problem of balancing sustainability with local communities welfare, environmental duty and economic benefits? The implications of the research provide suggestions for future improvements in the field of developing tourism clusters in Romania. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, tourism competitiveness, sustainable development, tourism clusters |
| JEL: | L83 Q56 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503894&r=cse |
| By: | CEREN ORAL (MU); G. CENK AKKAYA (DOKUZ EYLÜL UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES, DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION) |
| Abstract: | Clustering analysis is currently one of the most popular and advanced mathematical grouping methods both in finance and other existing sciences. The purpose of cluster analysis is to determine the units similar to each other in terms of their characteristics studied, and to define their clustering structures. The banking sector is the most important partner of organizations and countries against developing world economy and fluctuations in global competitive environment. The importance of profitability is clear for banks so in this study we want to cluster banks in Istanbul Stock Exchange based on profitability. There are three public banks, eleven private banks and twelve foreign banks in Turkey. This study aims to cluster 26 banks, listed in the Istanbul Stock Exchange by using profitability ratios. Four profitability ratios employed in the clustering were obtained through the end of the financial statements of the banks. The financial statements are taken from the internet sites of the Banks Association of Turkey. The average of the values of the profitability ratios belonging to the years 2003-2013 were used as the data of the analysis. As a result of the k-cluster analysis, the first, second and third clusters consist of 11, 2, 11 banks respectively. We have found the most similar banks and the less similar banks in our data set and also it is concluded that banks have formed a homegenous structure with the banks except existing groups (public, private and foreign). |
| Keywords: | banks, profitability, clustering analysis |
| JEL: | G00 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:2503730&r=cse |
| By: | Maria Conceição Rego (Departamento de Economia, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos e Formação Avançada em Gestão e Economia, Universidade de Évora); Isabel Joaquina Ramos (Departamento de Paisagem, Ambiente e Ordenamento, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Centro de Estudos de Sociologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Universidade de Évora); Maria Manuela Oliveira (Departamento de Matemática, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Centro de Investigação em Matemática e Aplicações, Universidade de Évora); Maria Raquel Lucas (Departamento de Gestão, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos e Formação Avançada em Gestão e Economia, Universidade de Évora); Maria da Saudade Baltazar (Departamento de Sociologia, Escola de Ciências Sociais, Centro de Estudos de Sociologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Universidade de Évora) |
| Abstract: | In Portugal the distribution of population and economic activity is strongly asymmetrical, creating significant differences in development. Traditionally, a distinction is made, among others (e.g. north-south), between coastal and inland areas - the first is young, urban, dynamic and economically vibrant, while the second is aged, rural, declined and economically depressed. However, a more detailed analysis reveals that several inland and coastal areas are similar in their levels of development when considering their territorial capital, meaning economic, social and environmental capital. Based on this assumption, this study aims to analyse the differences of development in Portuguese regions from a different perspective. The objective is to identify homogeneous areas, by differentiating and measuring the differences between areas more and less developed, be it in the coast or inland. The analysis of relevant variables will be made at the NUTS III level, with data from the last Portuguese CENSUS (2011). The statistical analysis is primarily based on descriptive statistics followed by multivariate data analysis (cluster analysis, principal components analysis and discriminant analysis). The results obtained allow us to conclude that there is a large difference in terms of development levels recorded in the Portuguese regions and also that there are groups of regions with common characteristics that go beyond the classic north-south or coastal-inland distinctions. Metropolitan areas and regions more export oriented are clearly distinguishable from the rest of the country. Furthermore, the indicators typically associated with urban dimensions are those who reveal more differences across the country. |
| Keywords: | Multivariate approach; Portugal; Regional Development; Territorial asymmetry. |
| JEL: | C38 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2014_18&r=cse |