Regional Economic Resilience and Resistance in Ireland 2001-2022: The Roles of Industrial Structure and Foreign Inward Investment

Download

This paper examines the resilience and resistance of Irish regions during the course of the post-2007 economic crisis and in the face of potential future shocks after 2022, focusing specifically on employment change of firms in receipt of assistance from the Irish government’s enterprise development agencies. The paper presents two analyses. Firstly, it classifies both regions and sectors in terms of their employment performance in order to assess the roles of sectoral composition and firm nationality in shaping the recession’s regional impact. Secondly, it uses a modified methodology to assess the impact of the same factors on the employment performance of regions during the 2011-2022 period, and to predict the resistance of regions to a potential future shock. While nationality mix is substantial, sectoral composition is found to have a more important impact on regional employment performance. Finally, the paper considers the implications of the findings for trends in regional economic divergence.