Regional economic resilience in Ireland: the roles of industrial structure and foreign inward investment

Figures & data

Figure 1. Regional urban centres and their fields of influence.

Table 1. Regional population data, 2006.

Region	Regional population	Regional centre population
Cork	476,057	190,384
Dublin	1640,270	1045,769
Dundalk	281,005	35,085
Galway	353,793	72,729
Letterkenny	119,721	17,586
Limerick	382,774	90,757
Midlands	257,328	No single regional centre
Sligo	162,438	19,402
Tralee	147,325	22,744
Waterford	419,137	49,213

Source: Central Statistics Office.

Table 2. Aggregate employment change in agency-assisted firms, 2001–11.

	2001	2006	% Change, 2001–06	2011	% Change, 2006–11
Total employment	335,435	340,839	1.6	308,753	−9.4
Irish firm employment	159,481	165,438	3.7	148,409	−10.3
Foreign firm employment	175,954	175,401	−0.3	160,344	−8.6
Foreign (%)	52.5	51.5		51.9

Table 3. Employment change by broad sector, 2001–11.

	2001	2006	% Change, 2001–06	2011	% Change, 2006–11
Manufacturing employment	244,091	227,390	−6.8	185,356	−18.5
Manufacturing share of total employment (%)	72.8	66.7		64.2
Foreign share of manufacturing employment (%)	49.5	48.0		48.7
Services employment	91,344	113,449	24.2	123,397	8.8
Services share of total employment (%)	27.2	33.3		35.8
Foreign share of services employment (%)	60.3	58.4		56.8

Table 4. Employment in long-term decline (LTD), long-term growth (LTG) and recession-sensitive (RS) sectors, 2001–11.

Sector	2001	2006	2011	% Change, 2001–06	% Change, 2006–11	% Change, 2001–11
LTD sectors
Textiles, clothing, leather	12,206	5580	3739	−54.3	−33.0	−69.4
Furniture	5666	5161	2858	−8.9	−44.6	−49.6
Printing/reproduction of recorded media	5938	4405	3083	−25.8	−30.0	−48.1
Cement and concrete products	5808	5719	3212	−1.5	−43.8	−44.7
Other manufacturing	20,446	16,670	11,312	−18.5	−32.1	−44.7
Electrical engineering	9106	6824	5063	−25.1	−25.8	−44.4
Electronic products	30,950	25,654	18,572	−17.1	−27.6	−40.0
Metals and engineering	36,421	33,898	24,589	−6.9	−27.5	−32.5
Plastic and rubber products	10,148	8753	6905	−13.7	−21.1	−32.0
Dairy processing	10,076	8623	7963	−14.4	−7.7	−21.0
Other food and beverages	31,972	29,788	27,060	−6.8	−9.2	−15.4
Total	178,737	151,075	114,356	−15.5	−24.3	−36.0
LTD share of total employment	53.3	44.3	37.0
LTG sectors
Financial services	9326	18,794	24,090	101.5	28.2	158.3
Other business services	6159	12,587	13,957	104.4	10.9	126.6
Medical devices	20,694	26,128	27,884	26.3	6.7	34.7
Software and computer services	61,148	65,000	68,458	6.3	5.3	12.0
Total	97,327	122,509	134,389	25.9	9.7	38.1
LTG share of total employment	29.0	35.9	43.5
RS sectors
Timber processing	6834	7679	4180	12.4	−45.6	−38.8
Other services	14,711	17,068	16,892	16.0	−1.0	14.8
Meat processing	13,482	15,650	14,727	16.1	−5.9	9.2
Pharmachemicals	24,344	26,858	24,209	10.3	−9.9	−0.6
Total	59,371	67,255	60,008	13.3	−10.8	1.1
RS share of total employment	17.7	19.7	19.4

Table 5. Employment in regions in long-term decline (LTD) and recession-sensitive (RS) regions, 2001–11.

Region	2001	2006	2011	% Change, 2001–06	% Change, 2006–11	% Change, 2001–11
LTD regions
Tralee	9207	8028	6578	−12.8	−18.1	−28.6
Midlands	15,320	15,154	11,204	−1.1	−26.1	−26.9
Letterkenny	7133	6321	5317	−11.4	−15.9	−25.5
Sligo	12,282	11,279	9408	−8.2	−16.6	−23.4
Total LTD regions	43,942	40,782	32,507	−7.2	−20.3	−26.0
RS regions
Limerick	34,141	34,242	26,082	0.3	−23.8	−23.6
Dundalk	15,144	16,265	13,553	7.4	−16.7	−10.5
Waterford	31,289	33,107	29,498	5.8	−10.9	−5.7
Dublin	144,601	145,615	138,337	0.7	−5.0	−4.3
Galway	26,676	27,712	26,434	3.9	−4.6	−0.9
Cork	39,642	43,116	42,342	8.8	−1.8	6.8
Total RS regions	291,493	300,057	276,246	2.9	−7.9	−5.2

Table 6. Growth category distribution and employment change, 2006–11.

Region	% Employment by growth category 2006			% Change, 2006–11	Sensitivity index^a	Resistance index ^b	Resilience index ^c
	LTD	LTG	RS
Cork	49.8	27.5	22.8	−1.8	0.23	0.55	1.01
Galway	35.6	44.7	19.8	−4.6	0.58	1.26	1.81
Dublin	36.0	47.4	16.7	−5.0	0.63	1.32	1.78
Waterford	50.1	22.6	27.3	−10.9	1.38	0.45	1.00
Letterkenny	51.8	25.8	22.4	−15.9	2.01	0.50	0.93
Sligo	49.8	32.1	18.1	−16.6	2.10	0.64	1.01
Dundalk	61.7	14.0	24.3	−16.7	2.11	0.23	0.62
Tralee	49.7	18.2	32.2	−18.1	2.29	0.37	1.01
Limerick	56.7	28.5	14.7	−23.8	3.01	0.50	0.76
Midlands	55.8	20.3	23.9	−26.1	3.30	0.36	0.79
National	44.3	35.9	19.7	−7.9	1.00	0.81	1.26

Notes:

^a Regional employment change divided by national employment change (after Martin, 2012).

^b LTG employment divided by LTD employment.

^c LTG plus RS employment divided by LTD employment.

Table 7. Foreign firms’ share of employment 2006 and total employment change, 2006–11 (%).

Region	Foreign firm % of employment, 2006	Total employment change (%), 2006–11
Cork	59.6	−1.8
Limerick	58.4	−23.8
Galway	57.0	−4.6
Dublin	55.7	−5.0
Sligo	47.8	−16.6
Waterford	40.6	−10.9
Midlands	38.9	−26.1
Letterkenny	29.0	−15.9
Dundalk	25.8	−16.7
Tralee	25.7	−18.1
Ireland	51.5	−7.9

Table 8. Growth performance of sectors by foreign/Irish domination, 2006–11

Sector	Growth category	Total employment, 2006	Foreign %	Employment change (%), 2006–11
Foreign-firm dominated
Financial services	LTG	18,794	71.4	28.2
Medical devices	LTG	26,128	89.5	6.7
Software etc.	LTG	65,000	79.1	5.3
Pharmachemicals	RS	26,858	86.6	−9.9
Electronics	LTD	25,654	88.2	−27.6
Irish-firm dominated
Other business services	LTG	12,587	4.4	10.9
Other services	RS	17,068	5.3	−1.0
Meat processing	RS	15,650	3.9	−5.9
Dairy processing	LTD	8623	7.8	−7.7
Printing etc.	LTD	4405	10.1	−30.0
Textiles etc.	LTD	5580	20.4	−33.0
Cement etc.	LTD	5719	9.5	−43.8
Furniture	LTD	5161	3.0	−44.6
Timber	RS	7679	12.0	−45.6

Table 9. Regional LTD/LTG replacement rates.

	LTD (%), 2006	LTD (%), 2011	LTG (%), 2006	LTG (%), 2011	LTD change, 2006–11	LTG change, 2006–11	ΔLTG (%)/ΔLTD
Cork	49.8	42.9	27.5	36.8	−3288	3718	1.13
Dublin	36.0	28.9	47.4	54.4	−12,356	6265	0.51
Dundalk	61.7	55.1	14.0	19.3	−2558	333	0.13
Galway	35.6	27.2	44.7	52.6	−2671	1533	0.57
Letterkenny	51.8	49.3	25.8	34.5	−654	208	0.32
Limerick	56.7	52.5	28.5	33.1	−5724	−1137	n.a.
Midlands	55.8	50.8	20.3	28.4	−2769	109	0.04
Sligo	49.8	49.4	32.1	36.1	−969	−224	n.a.
Tralee	49.7	49.1	18.2	23.8	−754	109	0.14
Waterford	50.1	39.4	22.6	28.6	−4976	966	0.19
Ireland	44.3	37.0	35.9	43.5	−36,719	11,880	0.32

Note:

n.a., Not applicable (see text).

Figure 2. Shift–share analysis components, 2006–11: all firms.

Figure 3. Shift–share analysis components, 2006–11: foreign firms.

Figure 4. Shift–share analysis components, 2006–11: Irish firms.

Martin, R. (2012). Regional economic resilience, hysteresis and recessionary shocks. Journal of Economic Geography , 12 , 1–32.10.1093/jeg/lbr019

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