What productive specialisation did euro-zone countries have after the introduction of the euro?
It is well known that monetary unification, which eliminates currency risk, allows countries that unify their currencies to exploit their comparative advantages, which previously could not be the case because of currency risk. We therefore look at how productive specialisation has evolved, which, after the creation of the euro, was driven by the comparative advantages of the euro-zone countries (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, Austria and Finland). We look at the change in the weight of: Manufacturing production and its components; Agriculture and agri-food industries; Construction; Household services (wholesale and retail trade, transport, accommodation and catering, information and communication, real estate activities ); Business services (banking and insurance, other service activities, scientific and technical activities, administrative and support services). We can see that productive specialisation turned the economy towards: Manufacturing industry in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands; Agriculture and the agri-food industry in Greece and Finland; Household services in Spain, France, Portugal and Finland and tourism in Greece and Portugal; Business services, including financial services, in Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Portugal and Finland. Specialisation after monetary unification is what might have been expected; it is towards industry in a few countries, and towards household services and tourism in the southern countries (and in Finland).