The agglomeration effect of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

In this paper, we analyze the spatial distribution of economic activity and labor market variables in Greece from 1980 to 2006. Using a distance-based method within a stochastic point process, we identify two periods with opposite trends regarding the concentration of economic activity in the Greek territory. First, twenty years (1980- 1999) of a moderately decreasing trend of agglomeration due to systematic e®orts by the Greek governments to decentralize the economic activity away from the capital. Second, a short period (2000-2006) of sharp increases in agglomeration, coinciding -in space and time- with the public and private investments for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. In the same period, a similar e®ect of a smaller size is observed on the concentration of the labor force, employment and unemployment.