The Changing Pattern of Regional Convergence in Europe

Tondl, Gabriele

doi:10.2139/ssrn.130688

Cited by 32 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…As for identifying the exact role played by technological heterogeneity in this process, we are now required to assess whether our evidence is capable to discriminate between the two 14 Our result confirms the previous findings on the convergence process across the European regions; see, among many others, Neven and Gouyette (1995), Paci (1997), Tondl (1999), Magrini (1999, Cuadrado-Roura et al (2000). 15 Our conclusion would be wrong if our measure of the propensity to innovate turned out to be (a) uncorrelated with the (uniform) technology levels, and (b) positively correlated with the (heterogeneous) propensity to accumulate human capital, which we do not include in our regression.…”

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confidence: 80%

Technological Diffusion, Spatial Spillovers and Regional Convergence in Europe

Paci

Pigliaru

2001

SSRN Journal

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In this paper we study two closely related issues. First, the role of technology heterogeneity and diffusion in the convergence of GDP per worker observed across the European regions, in the absence of data on regional TFP. Second, the spatial pattern of the observed regional heterogeneity in technology and the relevance of this pattern for the econometric analysis of regional convergence in Europe. As for the first issue, our aim is to assess whether the convergence observed across European regions is due to convergence in technology as well as to convergence in capital-labor ratios. We first develop a growth model where technology accumulation in lagging regions depends on their own propensity to innovate and on technology diffusion from the leading region, and convergence in GDP per worker is due to both capital deepening and catch-up. We use data (1978-97) on 131 European regions. Propensities to innovate are computed by assigning each patent collected by the European Patent Office to its region of origin. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that technology differs across regions and that convergence is partly due to technological catch-up. As for the second empirical issue, we study to what extent each region's propensity to innovate is correlated with that of the surrounding regions. Our results show, first, that the performance of each region does depend on that of the surrounding areas. Second, that the intensity of such spillovers fades with distance. Taken together, these findings suggest the existence of significant localized spillovers of technological knowledge. Finally, we show that these spillovers are strong enough to play a role that cannot be ignored in the econometric analysis of the convergence process in Europe.JEL: O41, O33,

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confidence: 80%

Technological Diffusion, Spatial Spillovers and Regional Convergence in Europe

Paci

Pigliaru

2001

SSRN Journal

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“…Indeed, if we are to put aside the studies that look at questions of regional restructuring within the context of transition, there is only a handful of studies that examine the issue of convergence-divergence in relation to the nationaldevelopment context. In his historical study of regional convergence in Europe, Tondl (1997) found that this was speedier in the 1950s and 1960s, slowed down during the 1970s, and recovered somewhat in the 1980s -suggesting that the speed of convergence may well be pro-cyclical (in relation to national growth). In turn, Geppert and Stephan (2008) examine regional convergence in relation to the process of economic integration in Europe and find integration to be associated to cross-regional convergence across countries, albeit with increasing spatial concentration and regional disparities within countries.…”

Section: Regional Growth In Cee and The Wider National-development Comentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, no study has examined thus far, in a systematic way, the differentiation and non-linearity of the speed of convergence across different stages of economic development. A small number of empirical studies have showed that convergence speeds differ at different stages in the process of economic integration and over different national growth regimes (e.g., Tondl, 1997;Geppert and Stephan, 2008). The model recently developed by Gennaioli et al (2013), and the empirical evidence presented there, added a different perspective, suggesting that the speed of convergence increases linearly with economic development.…”

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confidence: 99%

Regional Growth and National Development: Transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the Regional Kuznets Curve in the East and the West

Monastiriotis¹

2014

Spatial Economic Analysis

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Regional disparities in Central and Eastern Europe rose substantially after 1990. Still, prima facie evidence of beta-convergence is often found in the CEE data. To reconcile this apparent paradox, we sketch out and test empirically a hybrid model of regional growth that draws on the regional Kuznets curve and incorporates aspects of cumulative causation and neoclassical convergence. In both CEE and the 'old' EU15, regional convergence is strongly linked to the level of national development, non-linearly. But while in the EU15 convergence speeds-up at intermediate/high levels of development, in CEE we find divergence at intermediate levels of national development and no significant return to convergence thereafter. Although this may show that overall development levels are not sufficient yet to mobilise regional convergence, it is also possible that nonconvergence is attributable to centripetal forces instigated by the process of transition.

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“…Within this neoclassical theory, a convergence mechanism is expected to drive growth in the poorer regions. Even though convergence forces helped poorer regions to catch up (see Cuaresma et al, 2009;Tondl, 1999) to some extent, there is also evidence that some rich regions diverge from the rest (see Fischer and Stirböck, 2006;Fischer and Stumpner, 2008, for club convergence 4 ). Endogenous growth theory explains this behavior by accounting for technological progress that is expected to be more rapid in regions that provide the required endowments.…”

Section: Determinants Of Regional Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Globalization Affect Regional Growth? Evidence for Nuts-2 Regions in EU-27

Polasek

Sellner

2013

Danube

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We analyze the influence of newly constructed globalization measures on regional growth for the EU-27 countries between 2001 and 2006. The spatial Chow-Lin procedure, a method constructed by the authors, was used to construct, on a NUTS-2 level, complete regional data for exports, imports and FDI inward stocks, which serve as indicators for the influence of globalization, integration and technology transfers on European regions. The results suggest that most regions have significantly benefited from globalization measured by increasing trade openness and FDI. In a non-linear growth convergence model, the growth elasticities for globalization and technology transfers decrease with increasing GDP per capita. Furthermore, the estimated elasticity for FDI decreases when the model includes a higher human capital premium for CEE countries and a small significant growth enhancing effect accrues from the structural funds expenditures in the EU.

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The Changing Pattern of Regional Convergence in Europe

Cited by 32 publications

References 26 publications

Technological Diffusion, Spatial Spillovers and Regional Convergence in Europe

Technological Diffusion, Spatial Spillovers and Regional Convergence in Europe

Regional Growth and National Development: Transition in Central and Eastern Europe and the Regional Kuznets Curve in the East and the West

Does Globalization Affect Regional Growth? Evidence for Nuts-2 Regions in EU-27

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