DP1286 Regional Convergence Clusters Across Europe

Author(s):	Danny Quah
Publication Date:	January 1996
Keyword(s):	Conditioning, Dematerialization, Distribution Dynamics, Economic Geography, Knowledge-based Economy, Location
JEL(s):	C22, C23, D63, O30, O57
Programme Areas:	International Macroeconomics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=1286

Per capita incomes across European regions are not equal and do not stay constant; regional income distributions fluctuate over time. Such a process could have many possible limiting outcomes: complete equality (convergence), stratification, and continually increasing inequality are but three distinct possibilities. This paper asks if nation-state, macro factors and physical-geography spillover effects help explain the observed distribution dynamics across European regions. Geographical factors are found to matter more than national ones; but both are important for explaining inequality dynamics.