DIVERSITY IN REGIONAL ECONOMICS: A CASE STUDY IN THE ABRUZZO REGION

The concept of diversity is widely debated in scientific fields. It assumes a central role in economy because many theoretical arguments suggest that growth and economic diversity are intrinsically linked. However, in the literature, the problem of defining and quantifying diversity is still open. Indeed, although several indices have been proposed, there is not yet a universally accepted diversity measure. In this context, the choice of an appropriate diversity index becomes crucial in order to attain suitable conclusions. The economic diversity is analysed differently depending on the considered variables. With regard to the qualitative variables, many ecological diversity indices have been restated in economics. However, statisticians show several limitations of the standard diversity indices, suggesting the use of diversity profiles as a possible solution. Indeed, a single index is not able to reflects the multidimensional concept of diversity. For this reason, we propose to assess the regional economic diversity through the diversity profiles. In particular, the beta profile is used for the analysis of the diversity of the four provinces of the Abruzzo region (Central Italy), considering first the number of companies present in different sectors and then the number of employees per sector.