Abstract

We wonder about the applicability of Flying Geese (FG) model to understand the evolution of automobile sector during the 1990s in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Countries, theorised by Kaname Akmatsu in the 1930s to explain export-driven development patterns in Japan, and neglected for a long time. Through the calculation of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA, or Balassa) index of import and export of a group of goods directly related to the automobile chain, we try to highlight the presence of sequences in the comparative industrial specialization of CEE Countries, from lower to higher sophisticated goods, connected to the European landscape, and on the consolidation of a regional hierarchy for this industrial sector. Some final remarks consider the role of Italy with respect to this hierarchy.