The business sector in the Portuguese outermost regions - A decade in perspective

• Autor(a) principal: Seixas Sardinha, Luís Filipe
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Toledo de Sousa, Áurea Sandra, Almeida Leite, Eduardo Manuel, Fernandes, Paulo Filipe
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.29073/e3.v6i1.262
• topic: Setor Empresarial; Regiões Ultraperiféricas; Açores; Madeira; Organizações; Business Setor; Outermost regions; Azores; Madeira; Organizations

In the European Union (EU) there are nine outermost regions (ORs), among which are the Autonomous Region of the Azores (ARA) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (ARM). The ORs have several specificities that limit their economic and social development, but their strategic importance is significant compared to the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), so it is important to know. The aim of this paper is to deepen the knowledge and describe the evolution of the business sector in the ARA and ARM. Through a descriptive study using secondary data published by the Serviço Regional de Estatística dos Açores [the Azores Regional Statistics Service], Direção Regional de Estatística da Madeira [Madeira Regional Directorate of Statistics] and Instituto Nacional de Estatística [the National Statistical Institute], it was possible to verify that in the ARA and ARM between 2008 and 2017 there was initially a regression in the number of companies and a later recovery until 2017. In the ARA the total number of companies in 2017 still does not equal the number of 2008. In addition, in both regions, the total number of small, medium and large companies in 2017 still do not add up to the figures for 2008. As for the legal form, in the ARA individual companies show a decrease in their expression, while in the ARM the trend is reversed. Regarding the sectors of economic activity, there were some variations over this period, in both regions, namely the construction sector has been decreasing its expression and the accommodation, catering and similar sector has increased its expression in relation to the overall number of companies evidencing a paradigm shift.