The continental divide? Economic exposure to Brexit in regions and countries on both sides of The Channel

In this paper we employ an extension of the World Input‐OutputDatabase (WIOD) with regional detail for EU countries to study thedegree to which EU regions and countries are exposed to negativetrade‐related consequences of Brexit. We develop an index of thisexposure, which incorporates all effects due to geographicallyfragmented production processes within the UK, the EU andbeyond. Our findings demonstrate that UK regions are far moreexposed than regions in other countries. Only regions in theRepublic of Ireland face exposure levels similar to some UK regions,while the next most affected regions are in Germany, TheNetherlands, Belgium and France. This imbalance may influencethe outcomes of the negotiations between the UK and the EU.