Manufacturing in Greece and its Development Trend Through the Financing of Subsidized European Programs and Their Impact on the Greek Economy
Manufacturing in Greece and its Development Trend Through the Financing of Subsidized European Programs and Their Impact on the Greek Economy

Author(s): Georgios Kyriakopoulos, Dimitrios Petropoulos
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Politics, Economy, National Economy, Business Economy / Management, Governance, EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development, Socio-Economic Research
Published by: Университет за национално и световно стопанство (УНСС)
Keywords: Peloponnese; European programs; manufacturing sector
Summary/Abstract: The European Union plays a very important role in promoting regional development, competitiveness in the Member States, innovation and a range of strategic funding initiatives. Over the last 20 years, the Peloponnese region in Greece has benefited significantly from these programmes, particularly in the manufacturing sector. This work aims to examine the contribution of European programmes to the economic transformation and development of the Peloponnese, focusing on the manufacturing industry in the region. European programmes play a crucial role in the transformation of the manufacturing sector in the Peloponnese region, providing financial support and promoting a culture of innovation and sustainability, where these programmes have enabled significant economic growth. The region continues to benefit from European Union funding and is well positioned to achieve further growth and competitive advantage in the global market. Manufacturing is a key sector in many national economies and contributes to sustainable economic growth. At the same time, it is a sector sensitive to domestic and external shocks that lead to fluctuations in the business cycle. Changes in the economic development of countries have a strong impact on employment, employee compensation and the number of hours worked in the manufacturing industry. One of the main questions in the regional economic literature is why certain economic activities are concentrated in a certain number of regions. This question is also important as cities and regions have experienced structural changes. According to Imbs et al. (2012), the evolution of sectoral specialization at the country level reflects the common dynamics of local and global processes, while structural transformation is associated with systematic changes in the geographical dispersion of activities. In the literature of development economics, countries that are able to diversify from agriculture to manufacturing and services manage structural change as developing countries. Furthermore, when labor and other resources are shifted from less productive to more productive activities, the economy grows. The size and structure of the manufacturing industry, as well as changes in this structure towards knowledge- and technology-intensive activities that create higher value added, have an impact on the rate of industrial growth and sustainable economic growth. They also affect the specialization of production, productivity, competitiveness, quality and volume of exports. Any inefficient operation and reduction in the value added created by a country's manufacturing industry require changes in the production structure. If the changes are effective, they increase both productivity and output, while rapid and properly implemented changes in the structure modify the results and have an impact on basic performance. The main drivers of structural change in the manufacturing industry are investment, innovation, technology, know-how, and efficient use of resources (UNIDO, 2013).

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