Capital and Labour Productivity Convergence of Manufacturing Industry in the Regions of Greece

Given that spatially uneven industrial growth is a prime topic in economic geography, it is surprising that changing regional productivity is a relatively understudied area. Geographers seem to be more interested in the dynamics of the unequal distribution of the factors of production (labour and capital) than in the regional inequalities of their productive use. However, there are clear signs that this has started to change. In the field of regional science, at least, there is a proliferation of studies focused on productivity growth and the factors that affect it in a variety of regional contexts. Apart from the numerous US studies (a detailed review is offered by Gerking 1994), mention can be made of the studies of Chen (1996) in Chinese regions, and Vagionis and Spence (1994) and Vagionis and Sfakianakis (1997) for Greece. At the same time productivity concerns are being raised more frequently in mainstream geographical thinking.