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About regional convergence clubs in the European Union

Author

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  • Mihaela Simionescu

    (Romanian Academy, Institute for Economic Forecasting, Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

The goal of this research is to present the concept of convergence club within the European Union members, starting from the hypothesis that an overall convergence cannot be identified because of the high output disparities between countries and between regions. For the analysis, the concept has been used as a method of regression based on a convergence test that supposes an innovative decomposition of the GDP per capita and enables the endogenous determination of convergence clubs. In order to achieve the objective, the paper undertakes an empirical analysis of GDP per capita convergence for EU-28 members and for 272 regions corresponding to NUTS2 level. The results of the analysis show that at national level, during 1995 – 2012 there are significant differences between foundation members and CEEC economies, while at regional level five convergence clubs were identified. The basic conclusion is that in the conditions of lack of convergence between EU-28 countries, the identification of convergence clubs helps the European Union in reducing the economic disparities across European regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Mihaela Simionescu, 2015. "About regional convergence clubs in the European Union," Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci/Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Faculty of Economics and Business, vol. 33(1), pages 67-80.
    • Handle: RePEc:rfe:zbefri:v:33:y:2015:i:1:p:67-80
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Stanković Jelena J. & Džunić Marija & Milić Vesna Janković, 2019. "Competitiveness and the EU Accession Process: Can Candidate Countries Become Competitive as EU Countries?," Economic Themes, Sciendo, vol. 57(4), pages 415-432, December.
    3. KYDROS Dimitrios & FILENTA Pagona, 2022. "Literature Review of Economic and Regional Development through Quantitative Methods and Social Network Analysis," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 01, March.
    4. Małgorzata Kokocińska & Marcin Nowak & Paweł Łopatka, 2020. "Measuring the Efficiency of Economic Growth towards Sustainable Growth with Grey System Theory," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Dimitar Zlatinov & Ilia Atanasov, 2021. "Absolute and Conditional Convergence: A Story about Convergence Clubs and Divergence in the EU," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pages 39-55.
    6. Obadić, Alka & Arčabić, Vladimir & Rogić Dumančić, Lucija, 2023. "Club convergence of labor market institutions in the European Union," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 876-896.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    convergence club; beta convergence; clustering; log-t convergence test; GDP per capita;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C12 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Hypothesis Testing: General
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies

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