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: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP1286.asp

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.