SERVICES SECTORS’ CONCENTRATION AND COUNTRIES’ SPECIALIZATION PATTERNS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, AND THE UK

We investigate services sectors’ concentration and specialization patterns across the European member countries. Concentration and specialization are measured by Balassa indices, which in turn are constructed with employment data. In general, the tendency for the health and social sector is to concentrate employment in the Northern European countries, the financial sector is to concentrate in the UK, Ireland and Germany and the tourism sector is to concentrate in Spain, Portugal and Greece. Specialization tendencies are set in relation to a sector’s exporting activity and value added, and the quality of specialization for the economies is assessed.