The economic theory and the Portuguese manufactured industry. Another approach

The aim of this paper is to present a further contribution to the analysis of absolute convergence, associated with the neoclassical theory, of the manufactured industry productivity at regional level and for the period from 1995 to 1999 (1)(Martinho, 2011a). This work aims, also, to test the Verdoorn Law, with the alternative specifications of (2)Kaldor (1966), for the five Portuguese regions (NUTS II), from 1995 to 1999. It is intended to test, yet in this work, the alternative interpretation of (3)Rowthorn (1975) about the Verdoorn's Law for the same regions and period (4)(Martinho, 2011b). This paper pretends, yet, to analyze the importance which the natural advantages and local resources are in the manufacturing industry location, in relation with the "spillovers" effects and industrial policies. To this, we estimate the Rybczynski equation matrix for the various manufacturing industries in Portugal, at regional level (NUTS II) and for the period 1995 to 1999 (5)(Martinho, 2011c).Verdoorn law; convergence theories; geographic concentration; panel data; manufactured industries; Portuguese regions