A Convergência da Produtividade nas Regiões NUTS III de Portugal Continental O Efeito da Estrutura Regional de Emprego

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the labour productivity levels at both sectoral and aggregate level in the NUTS III regions of the Portuguese Mainland in the 90s. We test the hypothesis of regional convergence, following the main empirical works. Our results show that although there was a regional convergence on an aggregate level, there are sectors and branches where there are no signs of regional convergence. We think that this may be explained by changes in the regional employment structure, caused by the labour mobility between branches. We have estimated the effects of the changes of the regional employment structure and have concluded that the labour mobility has benefited the regional convergence of labour productivity.