Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/204162 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
wiiw Research Report No. 390
Publisher: 
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), Vienna
Abstract: 
This paper analyses developments in production structures in pre-crisis and during the crisis years in the range of EU 'peripheral economies' (i.e. the lower- and medium-income economies in the South and the Centre/East). The emphasis is on the development of the tradable sector (and manufacturing in particular) relative to non-tradable sectors and whether these are reflected in longer-term trade imbalances. Different groups of economies emerge, some with a strong manufacturing base, others with a very weak one. We investigate whether and to which extent structural readjustments took place during the crisis years and also analyse in detail relative unit labour cost (ULC) developments across sectors. A decomposition analysis shows that ULC developments are mainly driven during the crisis by output and employment adjustments (rather than by labour compensation) posing the question of whether capacity contraction effects might make 'weak economies' in the EU's periphery even more 'trade balance constrained' in the wake of the crisis.
Subjects: 
tradable sector
non-tradable sector
real effective exchange rates
unit labour costs
Europe's peripheral economies
trade and current account imbalances
structural developments in Europe's periphery
Central and Southeast Europe
JEL: 
O10
O14
J3
Document Type: 
Research Report

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