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Scientific Reports:

P. Havlik, M. Landesmann, W. Urban, R. Wieser:
"Enlargement and Competitiveness";
Report for European Commission, DG Enterprise, Chapter 4 of the Background Report for the Competitiveness Report 2003 (WIFO togehter with CE, CEPII, CPB, ECORYS, ETLA, IDEA, LOGOTECH, NIESR, WIIW, ZEW; Project Manager: Hannes Leo (WIFO); 2003.



English abstract:
The Chapter deals with the likely implications of the Central and East European countries'
accession to the EU for manufacturing industry specialisation and competitiveness of an
enlarged Europe. The plan of the Chapter is as follows: Section 2 provides an overview of
recent developments in GDP, employment and productivity catching-up in the accession
countries relative to EU member states. It also summarises the broad patterns of structural shifts
(across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors) that have occurred during the last decade.
Section 3 reviews the theoretical and empirical literature dealing with specialisation and
concentration of industry which is relevant for assessing the likely consequences of
EU enlargement. Applying the methodology used in previous Competitiveness Reports (see
European Commission, 1999, in particular), it also outlines specialisation and concentration
trends in both the present and new EU member states and evaluates the likely implications of
accession for sensitive regions in the EU.

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