Regional resilience in the 2008-2010 downturn: comparative evidence from European countries

The paper draws on the concept of regional resilience to examine the impact of the 20082010 downturn across regions in Europe. It finds that correlations between resilience and regional strength/fragility varied between countries in both 2009 and 2010, that resilience was weaker in manufacturing regions in 2009 but not 2010 and that the resilience of regions with high rates of construction employment was mainly low in regions affected by asset bubbles. Fiscal stimulus and tightening packages in 2008-2012 are shown to have regional dimensions in many countries but their regional impact varies, depending on political decisions and existing institutional frameworks.