Reacting to the 2008 crisis: Competitiveness performances of Southern Italy and CEE regions

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis influenced geo-economic dynamics in the EU, triggering a repositioning of less developed regions. This analysis examines whether their competitiveness changed after 2008, and why some regions improved in performance. Using ERCI data, we compare EU lagging regions at NUTS2 level, finding that the Central and Eastern European (CEE) regions reacted to the crisis better than Southern Italian ones. We find that the divergence in their competitiveness pathways depends on the scale of their financial resources and on institutional endowments and legacy, which in turn directly affects the implementation of regional policies.