Regional development in the light of income inequality, entrepreneurship and innovation

Fotini Economou, Pródromos Prodromídis

Map 2: The functional areas of Western Greece and of neighboring areas based on the 15% in- and out-commuting ratio at the time of the 2011 Census

Groups of localities and isolated localities with a working population of: ≥ 100.0 thousand (linked to Athens) 50.0 – 99.999 thousand: Patras linked to Ioannina 10.0 – 49.999 thousand Agrinion (medium brown in the north), Pirgos (light brown in the south) (Other formations in shades of brown: Arta, Karditsa, Lamia, Corinth, Tripolis, Zakinthos) 5.0 – 9.999 thousand Nafpaktos (orange in the center) Amalias (orange in the south) Messolongion (yellow in the center) Aegion (yellow, west of Patras) (Other formations in shades of orange, red, yellow: Preveza Lefkas, Amfissa) 1.0 – 4.999 thousand 0.5 – 0.999 thousand < 500

Source: Prodromídis (2018).

population of about 680 thousand people (2011 census),3 who given the idiosyncratic terrain, infrastructure, broad production arrangements and resultant commuting patterns live in: (a) Seven functional areas in and around Patras, Agrinion, Pirgos, Nafpaktos, Messolongion, Aegion, Amalias, within which developments in the supply or demand of labor or the reduction of unemployment, the improvement of wages, and related socioeconomic phenomena and interventions may, to some or considerable extent, be diffused. (b) Three sets of areas primarily linked to Athens, Arta or Lefkas (beyond the region). (c) Many smaller, isolated communities situated predominantly north of Agrinion, in western Akarnania, in east Achaea, in north and in south Ilis. See Map 2.

3 Of these, 5.9% are employed in the primary sector, 5.0% are employed in the secondary sector, 19.5% are employed in the tertiary sector, 8.1% are unemployed, and 61.6% are outside the labor market. The employed to non-employed population ratio is in line with those observed in neighboring Epiros, Thessaly, Central Greece, East & South Peloponnese, as well as in Apulia (Puglia), Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily (across the Adriatic).