The paper examines the pattern of regional convergence and the determinants of regional growth in Europe, providing a discussion of the issues that are of relevance to the theoretical conceptions and the subsequent design of regional development policy, supported by an illustrative empirical analysis. The analysis covers 249 NUTS II regions of the European Union in the period 1990–2003. Using as its basis the standard framework of (absolute) β-convergence, the paper detects a mirror-image J-shaped relationship between regional growth and regional development levels. This type of relationship indicates that regional divergence factors are getting stronger, and, eventually, dominate, at more advanced levels of development. On the basis of a regional growth model, factors such as agglomeration economies, geography, economic integration and economic structure seem to create an overall unfavourable economic environment for lagging (and, possibly, less favoured) regions. Such an environment generates dilemmas and questions concerning the mix of policies that may promote growth and at the same time reduce regional inequalities in the European Union.

Mutants of Phytophthora infestans with high resistance to the amidocarbamates iprovalicarb and benthiavalicarb and to the cyanoimidazole cyazofamid were isolated after UV-mutagenesis and selection on media containing one of the above fungicides. In vitro fungitoxicity tests showed that all resistant strains presented a highly reduced sensitivity to both cyazofamid and to the amidocarbamates. Cross-resistance studies with other oomycete fungicides from different chemical groups showed that the mutation(s) for resistance to iprovalicarb (IPV), benthiavalicarb (BVC) and cyazofamid (CZF) also greatly reduced the sensitivity of mutant strains to the phenylamide metalaxyl, acetamide cymoxanil, morpholine dimethomorph, benzamide zoxamide and to chlorothalonil. A lower reduction of sensitivity of mutant strains to the strobilurins azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl, pyraclostrobin and trifloxystrobin, azolones famoxadone and fenamidone and to antimycin A was observed. A resistance correlation was not apparent for the dithiocarbamate propineb and phenylpyridinamine fluazinam. Studies of fitness parameters in the wild-type and mutant strains of P. infestans showed that most resistant isolates had significantly reduced sporulation and sporangial germination, but not in the differentiation of sporangia into zoospores. Pathogenicity tests on tomato seedlings showed that most resistant isolates were significantly less pathogenic compared to the wild-type parent strain. However, experiments on the stability of the resistant phenotypes did not show a reduction in resistance when the mutants were grown for more than eleven generations on inhibitor-free medium. This is believed to be the first report of high level multi-drug resistance in fungal pathogens to chemically unrelated fungicides inhibiting different sites of cellular pathway.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractThe present paper provides a comprehensive and consolidated analysis of the business cycle synchronicity between European regions and EU-14. Our study is conducted in three levels. First, we analyse regional business cycle synchronization with the EU-14 benchmark cycle, using real GDP in 200 NUTS II regions for a period of 30 years , detrended by Hodrick-Prescott filter. Secondly, we employ a VAR type methodology as a measurement devise to examine the dynamic relationship of the regional business cycles. Our main interest is to study the dynamics of business cycles as well as the pattern of the transmission mechanism to regions with different level of development. Finally, following Imbs (2004) and Tondl and Traistaru (2006), we empirically extend the research on identifying factors which might drive regional business cycle synchronization. In particular, we analyse the role of trade integration-cum-the sectoral patterns of specialisation as determinants of regional growth cycle correlations with the EU-14. Moreover, we draw attention to regional productivity as another possible determinant of business cycle synchronisation associated with the pattern of the spatial distribution of economic activities across regions. Panel three-stage least-squares estimation is implemented for the simultaneous equations between determinants and regional business cycles synchronisation.JEL Classification: R11, R12, E32

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Monetary policy is unlikely to have a uniform impact on the real economic activity across regions with different industrial structures. This study measures the heterogeneous effects of monetary policy on regional and sectoral output of the 13 regions in Greece over the period 1980 to 2009. By using an unrestricted vector autoregressive model and the impulse response analysis, our results show that an interest rate shock affects the economic activity across regions differently. Furthermore in our investigation, we use a panel vector autoregressive model so as to investigate the dynamic variation of the impact of interest rates controlling also for time and cross regions fixed effects associated with specific time invariant regions' characteristics as well as with time variant characteristics attributed to the integration process of these regions. Finally, in identifying the channel of monetary policy transmission in the Greek regions, we investigate the role of Greek regional industrial structures in explaining these variations.