Centre–Periphery in the EU-20: a classification based on factor analysis and cluster analysis
针对欧盟内部经济差异扩大和“欧洲外围”一词的模糊性，基于拉丁美洲结构主义学派和依赖理论，用因子分析和聚类分析对20个欧盟国家进行分类，识别出中心和外围两个集群，并考察1995至2014年的变化。
Abstract One of the main targets of the European Union (EU) is the achievement of economic convergence among its member states. However, economic and social differences have not been diminishing. Over the past decade, asymmetries have become more obvious and use of the expression ‘European periphery’ has increased significantly. The ambiguity around this term has led to the development of a classification based on the Latin American Structuralist School and Dependency Theory, adapting these approaches to the European economies at present. Through factor analysis, we obtain a rigorous and consistent classification of a representative group of European countries, the EU-20, which allows us to identify the most relevant asymmetries between two clusters: the centre and the periphery. Moreover, analysis over time, examining data from 1995 to 2014, enables us to detect important changes in these classifications as well as the composition of the two clusters.