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Nearshoring and farsharing in Europe within the global economy: regional trends, structural components and sectoral patterns

Author

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  • Filippo Bontadini

    (LUISS, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli
    University of Sussex)

  • Valentina Meliciani

    (LUISS, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli)

  • Maria Savona

    (LUISS, Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli
    University of Sussex
    Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy (CITP), University of Sussex)

  • Ariel Luis Wirkierman

    (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Macerata)

Abstract

This paper documents recent trends in the geographical distribution of value added across Global Value Chains (GVCs). By combining the industry (i.e., source) and value chain (i.e., destination) analytical perspectives, we find two concurrent processes setting Europe’s participation to GVCs apart from other two macro-regions, Asia-Pacific and the Americas. European value chains have recently increased the share of value added they import from within Europe—which amounts to nearshoring—while European country-industries have, from a long-period perspective, increased the share of value added they provide to extra-European value chains—which we refer to as farsharing. We study these trends by decomposing macro-regional dynamics into structural components, zooming in on Europe to highlight country- and sector-level patterns. Crucially, if global final demand decelerates, the positive intra-European spillovers due to regional backward linkages (nearshoring-induced effects) might not become as effective as they could potentially be, given that activating European production increasingly requires extra-European final demand (the farsharing constraint).

Suggested Citation

  • Filippo Bontadini & Valentina Meliciani & Maria Savona & Ariel Luis Wirkierman, 2025. "Nearshoring and farsharing in Europe within the global economy: regional trends, structural components and sectoral patterns," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 52(3), pages 559-597, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolin:v:52:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s40812-025-00361-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s40812-025-00361-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carmen M. Reinhart & Vincent Reinhart & Christoph Trebesch, 2016. "Global Cycles: Capital Flows, Commodities, and Sovereign Defaults, 1815-2015," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 574-580, May.
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    3. Filippo Bontadini & Valentina Meliciani & Maria Savona & Ariel Wirkierman, 2022. "Nearshoring and Farsharing in Europe within the Global Economy," EconPol Forum, CESifo, vol. 23(05), pages 37-42, September.
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    5. Benedetta Piatanesi & Josep‐Maria Arauzo‐Carod, 2019. "Backshoring and nearshoring: An overview," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 806-823, September.
    6. Richard Baldwin & Javier Lopez-Gonzalez, 2015. "Supply-chain Trade: A Portrait of Global Patterns and Several Testable Hypotheses," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(11), pages 1682-1721, November.
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    1. Dario Guarascio & Mario Holzner & Donato Iacobucci & Valentina Meliciani, 2025. "European competitiveness in the new global context: structural constraints, strategic dependencies and the role of the new industrial policy," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 52(3), pages 525-533, September.

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