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This paper analyses the evolution of the size distribution of the stock of emigrants in the period 1960-2000. Has the distribution of the stock of emigrants changed or has there been some convergence? This is the question discussed in this work. In particular, we are interested in testing the fulfillment of two empirical regularities studied in urban economics: Zipf's law, which postulates that the product between the rank and size of a population is constant; and Gibrat's law, witch states that growth rate of a variable is independent of its initial size. We use parametric and non-parametric methods and apply them to absolute (stock of emigrants) and relative (migration density, defined as the quotient between the stock of emigrants of a country and its total population) measurements.

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We use cointegration tests that determine endogenously the regime shift to test for bilateral inflation rate convergence in the European Countries in the 1961-1997 period. When applying cointegration tests that do not allow for structural breaks, only for seven of the fourteen countries examined we find evidence of a long run relationship between their inflation rates and the German inflation rate. In contrast, our innovative approach provides strong evidence in favour of such relationship for all countries, except for Greece and Portugal.