Export, economic complexity and growth in the integrated periphery of the European automotive industry

This article examines the relationship between the export of automobiles, economic complexity and the growth of countries of the European automotive industry. It utilises Eurostat and OEC databases and implements an OLS panel model to examine the trends and position of countries in the dynamic core-periphery structure over the period 2000–2020. We aim to investigate how the increase in economic complexity is related to the change in the share of exports of automobiles in the post-socialist countries of the integrated periphery compared to core areas. Our results suggest that the economic growth of the post-socialist countries of the integrated periphery is driven by economic complexity. On the other hand, they differ significantly when it comes to the export of automobiles which can have a substantial influence on long-term sustainable growth in the context of digital and green transformation.