Assessing The Structural Changes In The Greek Economy For The Period Prior To Economic Crisis

The process of economic growth is directly related to structural changes, the study of which has been the subject of research for many decades and it allowed detecting the dynamics affecting national and regional economies over time. Especially for the policy makers, the in-depth understanding of inter-sectorial linkages and of the structural changes existing in national or regional economics is increasingly important for the planning of effective economic policies leading to economic development and to the improvement of competitiveness and productivity. Within this context, this paper studies the inter-sectorial linkages in the Greek economy by using a combined approach based on input-output modeling and on causative matrix analysis. The purpose of the analysis is to detect the structural changes in Greece at the period prior to economic crisis (2000-2010), which is an important period because, at that time, the economic structure of the country have been proven deficient to successfully deal with the crisis that followed. The analysis shows that the majority of the productivity sectors (impressively) witnessed an increase in their gross output at that time, that the most significant changes induced in the tertiary sector, where technical changes were fewer than those captured due to change in final demand, and that the effects of final demand are increasingly individually internalized. The overall approach aspires to learn from a crucial period leading to an economic crisis, under a structural perspective of the Greek economy.