Tracing Regional Integration
into Global Value Chains
This study examines how European regions are integrated into global value chains by tracing how regional production is realized within a multiregional production system. Using a multiregional input–output framework, the analysis moves beyond participation intensity and upstream–downstream position to characterize integration through distinct production roles, linkage structures, and propagation mechanisms in a multistage economy.
Based on MRIO data for European NUTS2 regions over the period 2000–2017, the study shows why participation and functional position alone fail to identify the structural configuration of production linkages, the depth of indirect propagation, or scale-dependent system significance.
A two-dimensional activity space is introduced to describe regions’ forward and backward production linkages, while indirect propagation depth captures how regional value added is transmitted through successive production stages. Economic scale is reintroduced through propagation mass, allowing identification of system-significant regions whose production generates disproportionately large indirect effects.
The results show that regional integration has increased across Europe without convergence in regional roles. Instead, deeper integration has reinforced a differentiated regional allocation of economic activities, implying that regional exposure and system significance cannot be inferred from participation or positional indicators alone.
