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This paper detects structural similarities among several regions in Chile, in particular those that can be compared to the Magellanic and the Chilean Antarctica region: the regions Tarapacá, Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, Bío- Bío and Los Lagos. This exercise is particularly relevant given the economic characteristics and geographic location of all of them. This comparison would allow less advantaged regions to learn from the most successful ones. Policy makers would be able to evaluate ex-ante different policies, helping in this way the decision making process. To this end, in this paper we follow two approaches: first, we find similarities among regions using Le Masne's (1988) indicator; second, we use one in which the similarities are identified through the productive links, following the methodologies of Rasmussen (1956), Dietzenbacher and van der Linden (1997) and Soza (2007b). Once we determine which technique is better for our problem, a hierarchical cluster is applied to obtain groups of regions based on the relationship they form. It is of particular interest to identify those sectors that have the largest impact on development and analyze its productive linkages. The analysis is done using the 1996 input-output charts developed by National Institute of Statistics (INE) and the Ministry of Planning and Development (MIDEPLAN). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many authors stress the importance of relationships between sectors for the economic growth. Therefore the concept of linkage appears in the definition of two of the most traditional concepts in the input-output analysis: the "key sector" and cluster . In this paper , key products and activities are identified for the Chilean regions, the clusters that form and the structural similarity that exists between them. For this, we use a combination of so-called Important Coefficients and Fields of Influence. The results indicate that the regions that are most similar are: Tarapacá and Antofagasta, Biobío and Los Lagos. Besides the "developed" regions concept that is associated with a high division of labor and coordination between sectors, they have similar production structures and are very different from those that have "less development". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]