Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/118866 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
50th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Sustainable Regional Growth and Development in the Creative Knowledge Economy", 19-23 August 2010, Jönköping, Sweden
Publisher: 
European Regional Science Association (ERSA), Louvain-la-Neuve
Abstract: 
This paper proposes a methodology which combines elements of parametric regression analysis with the nonparametric distribution dynamics approach in order to analyse the role of some variables in the convergence of productivity across European regions over the period 1980-2002. We find that the initial productivity crucially accounts in the convergence process across European regions. Differently, employment growth seems not to play a role, while the Structural and Cohesion Funds seem to play a positive role, even though such effect seems to be very low and statistically significant only at the low bound of the range of initial productivity. The structural change of regional economies plays a positive role, but such effect is statistically significant only for the least productive regions. The output composition of a region in 1980 affects the convergence process of productivity growth in several ways. In particular, the share of non market services on output acts like a source of convergence from 1980 to 2002 but in the long-run it plays a negligible role. Finally, the share of finance acts like a force of divergence across European regions, especially for the least productive regions.
Subjects: 
European regional policy
structural change
convergence
European regions
outputcomposition
distribution dynamics
polarization
JEL: 
C21
E62
R11
O52
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.