eWork and Regional Development: eWork Relocation
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eWork by region
The results of the EMERGENCE employer survey shows that an understanding of the types of regions with high incidences of eWork can be important in influencing the regional development strategy most likely to be successful.
The top ten regional destinations for eWork are shown in the table below. These are the regions which, according to the results of EMERGENCE’s ‘demand side’ interviews, are most involved in the supply of eBusiness services. Two lists are given, one showing the absolute importance of a region, and the second adjusted for its population size.
Top ten destinations for eWork, absolute and per capita
| Absolute | Per capita |
| POL Poland | BE1 Region Bruxelles |
| CZE Czech Republic | DE5 Bremen (Germany) |
| UKI London (UK) | NL1 Noord-Nederland (Netherlands) |
| DE1 Baden-Wurttemberg (Germany) | CZE Czech Republic |
| DEA Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany) | POL Poland |
| ES2 Noreste (Spain) | DE6 Hamburg (Germany) |
| ES3 Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) | UKI London (UK) |
| IT2 Lombardia (Italy) | DE3 Berlin (Germany) |
| HUN Hungary | LUX Luxembourg |
| DE2 Bayern (Germany) | ES6 Sur (Spain) |
It should be noted in this context that in the EU, NUTS1 level regions were used for classifying locations, and for Portugal, Luxembourg, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, NUTS constitutes a whole country. In the EU Accession States of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, because of problems of data compatibility, locations were also coded at only the national level, despite the relatively large size of these economies.
(Source: Huws and O’Regan, 2001)
Find out how your region or country scored on this, and other eWork-related variables
The EMERGENCE study of the most important regional destinations for eWork suggests a clustering effect whereby some regions are able to build a critical mass on the basis of their past reputation for excellence in a given field by attracting further talent and investment, which in turn feeds a continuing cycle of growth.
The top ten list of eWork destination regions shows a strong clustering around national (or in Germany regional) capital cities, including Brussels, London, Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen.
Favoured regions in Eastern European countries are, again, capital cities, but also other cities which have universities and/or high level technical institutes. Apart from such regions in Poland and the Czech Republic, it is striking that, despite the publicity given to the practice of relocating or outsourcing eWork to non-European destinations such as India or the Caribbean, the overall trend is strongly dominated, numerically speaking, by cases where work is relocated within the EU. It should nevertheless be noted that the list of favoured regions for remote eWork features a number of regions outside the EU and the Accession States of Central and Eastern Europe. These include India, Russia, Western Australia and Japan, as well as a number of US States.
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© 2002, Institute for Employment Studies