Persistence vs. Mobility in Industrial and Technological Specialisations: Evidence from 11 Euro Area Countries

This paper analyses the evolution of the specialisation pattern of 11 Euro area countries by analysing their comparative and technological advantages over the period 1990-2008. Using the estimation of marginal densities and Markov transition probabilities, we examine both the external shape of the distribution of technological and comparative advantages and the intra-distribution dynamics. Our results point out that there is, on average, a high persistence in industrial specialisation patterns of the 11 Euro area countries under scrutiny, conrming a lock-in eect, notably for Italy. Nevertheless, our results related to technological specialisation reveal a large mobility of technological advantages during the same period, especially in Spain.