A Social Network Analysis of Certain Macroeconomic Indicators of European Union NUTS 2 Regions
摘要
Social Network Analysis investigates the relationships formed between different nodes, i.e. between units that can be individuals, groups, or organizations. The nodes and links between them that form a network, are taken as interdependent units. In this paper, the nodes are the NUTS2 regions of the EU, and we seek to study the degree of correlation between them in terms of certain macroeconomic indicators. In addition, we present the visualization of networks based on the degree of correlation of the indicators and calculate metrics and measures of centrality, as well as the resulting groupings (communities) of regions. Could the existence of more communities of regions be translated as a lack of cohesion between regions? The results show that the Analysis of Social Networks could help to identify specific regions, where the implementation of targeted policies could lead to a reduction in regional imbalances and thus improve cohesion in the EU.