The factor intensity of accession and EU15 countries' comparative advantage in the internal market

Arbeitspapier

Economic relations between the European Union and the accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) were liberalised by Europe Agreements after the early 1990s. Free trade and investment have the potential of changing the structure of countries’ trade although with some restrictions set by, inter alia, the quantity and quality of the available factors of production. The accession countries have lower labour costs coupled with a relatively well-educated labour force. We analyse the factor intensity (skilled/unskilled labour and capital) of the accession countries’ comparative advantage in the internal market in 1993-2002. Most accession countries’ comparative advantage remains less skillintensive than that of the EU15 countries. A movement towards a more skillintensive comparative advantage is shown to have been positively correlated with higher growth rates in the EU15 and the CEE countries.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ETLA Discussion Papers ; No. 925

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: eastern enlargement ; comparative advantage ; factor intensity ; EU-Erweiterung ; Faktorintensität ; EU-Binnenmarkt ; Komparativer Kostenvorteil

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Kaitila, Ville
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2004

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63846
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET