Using entropy measures to disentangle regional from national localization patterns

Localization of economic activities is a manifestation of two closely-related economic phenomena: the specialization of geographical units and the spatial concentration of industries. Nonetheless, the direction of changes in concentration and specialization, across national boundaries, may differ from those occurring within countries. Combining a regional approach with an international perspective, the paper introduces an entropy index of overall localization that allows specialization to be conceptualized as the mirror image of concentration, and also focuses attention on the possible divergence in agglomeration patterns at the different spatial scales.