Regional Differences in the Human Resource Conditions in the European Union

Abstract

In recent years, the pandemic crisis generated challenges for countries highlighting serious economic structural problems. Significant social and economic development differences remain not only between countries but also within countries. There is a consensus among economists that human resources are one of the most important factors in countries to realize technological progress and improve competitiveness, which aims to moderate income disparities. The income and technological inequalities between regions can be derived from differences in human resources, which also prevent the improvement of competitiveness and economic growth. This research aims to illustrate the inequalities of human resource conditions in the NUTS-2 level regions of the European Union. Using the latest version of the Regional Competitiveness Index and the Regional Innovation Scoreboard, the regional differences in human resources by innovation performance groups are analyzed with multivariate statistical methods to identify the critical human factor(s) that affect the region’s competitiveness and innovation performance. The improvement of these factors can be essential to moderate regional inequalities in the European Union.