Abstract:
The heterogeneity among European manufacturing systems has widened in the last 15 years under the competitive pressure of new industrial powers within and outside the EU boundaries and as a result of the 2008 global recession. This paper describes this transformation, in terms of the sectoral composition and the geographical concentration of industrial activities. It also analyses how cross-country differences in export performance, in the dynamics of domestic demand and in the exposure to low-cost import competition have contributed to the divergence in fortunes in European manufacturing.