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Structural Inertia in Regional Industrial Concentration: Persistence and Mobility Across European Regions, 2017–2023

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Regional industrial concentration structures are shaped by path dependence and resist rapid change, yet fine‐grained evidence spanning the COVID‐19 shock remains limited. Using a purpose‐built firm‐level panel of 2.04 million firms across EU‐27 and UK NUTS3 regions (2017–2023), this paper analyses concentration persistence and quintile displacement. Approximately half of regions retained their concentration quintile across the period, with path dependence operating through distributional compression rather than rank disruption. Capital metropolitan regions diversified faster than their national context, while island regions were associated with movement towards greater concentration, a pattern interpreted as a potential structural trap with implications for Smart Specialization implementation in Europe's most vulnerable territories.

Source: Growth and Change

DOI: 10.1111/grow.70161

Author: Rudy Fernandez‐Escobedo

Institutions: Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, London School of Economics and Political Science

Language: English

Topic: Agglomeration and Urban Systems

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,400