Comparison of backward and forward linkages for industries in the baltic states and Finland

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to conduct the comparative analysis of direct and total linkages, backward and forward linkages in the economies of the Baltic States and Finland in 2014. Measurement and comparison of the strengths of backward and forward linkages for the industries allow us to identify the “key” or “leading” industries of the national economy in the respective year, and to design certain clusters in order to classify the industries. We investigate the clusters of similar, in some sense, industries in the Baltic States and Finland, and offer an interpretation of the observed differences between these lists. The cluster analysis of the industry four linkages and share of industry output in the total output in five-dimensional space for Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland will be continued.