Suchergebnisse

The use of the potential of economic convergence is one of the key challenges of economic policy in case of European Union. Due to structural changes that have led to the growing role of knowledge-based economy (KBE), the analysis made in the paper is based on the assumption that the convergences process of the EU countries takes place in the reality of the KBE, thus in order to facilitate it, all the EU members should concentrate on building institutions that are adequate to the conditions of the KBE. In this context, the aim of the study is to verify the potential impact of the quality of institutional system of the EU countries on the process of convergence. In this regard, the analytical framework of conditional β-convergence was used with econometric dynamic panel modeling. To measure the quality of institutional system the authors proposed original synthetic indicator, which was designed with TOPSIS method. For this purpose the data was obtained from the Fraser Institute database. Dynamic panel econometric analysis carried out for the European Union countries in the years 2004-2010 confirms that the high quality and adequacy of the institutional system to the conditions of the KBE supports convergence process in the EU.

Being established from the initiative of six visionary countries in the second half of the 20th century, the European Economic Community has shifted the history of the European continent by promoting economic collaboration and political stability. Given its initial success, the regional group has quickly evolved from customs union to Economic and Monetary Union, comprising nowadays twenty-seven European countries. Although the European Union has successfully managed political, economic, social and even sanitary turmoil, the stability of the European architecture continues to be threatened by the heterogeneity of its members. In this respect, one of the main challenges for the European Union in its current composition aims the convergence of the economic performance between countries and regions. The purpose of this paper is to study the economic growth patterns in the European Union during 2000 and 2019, also conducting a comparative analysis between New and Old Member States. In order to capture the European economic landscape, the methodology was based on conditional β-convergence and the estimates were conducted by using ordinary least squares and generalized least squares with fixed effects. We have tried to find the relationship between the lagged value of GDP per capita and the subsequent growth rates, but also to study the influence of macroeconomic and social-related variables. By estimating regressions based on panel data, we have found evidence in favor of income convergence in the European Union, based on the inverse relationship between the lagged value of GDP per capita and the annual growth rates. Moreover, the comparative analysis between the New and Old Members illustrated that convergence was stronger in the latter group, given the sound macroeconomic and social environment. The empirical analysis suggested that the economic growth process both at aggregate and subgroup level was enhanced by investment, exports of goods and services, sound public finances and the increase of percentage of population with tertiary education. Consequently, in order to increase the cohesion between Members and to avoid separatist movements, the European decision-makers should strengthen the macroeconomic and social frameworks, maintaining a sustainable economic growth trajectory for both the New Members from Central and Eastern Europe and the Old Member States.

The potential convergence of regional house prices in the UK is examined. In contrast to the existing literature which focuses upon stochastic convergence, the present paper considers alternative forms of convergence. Using a method based upon conditional probabilities of high and low growth rates, tests are employed to detect β-convergence in UK regional house prices. Importantly, given the suggested differences in regional house price dynamics over the course of the cycle in the housing market, β-convergence is considered not only over the full sample of observations available, but over cyclical sub-samples also. Interestingly, while convergence is not detected over the whole sample available, it is observed over the housing market cycle, with overwhelming evidence of convergence detected particularly during the downturn. These findings, supported by results for σ-convergence, show that failure to detect convergence may be due to its episodic nature being masked when arbitrarily defined sample periods are considered.

ABSTRACTThe roles played by differences in study design and methodology in influencing the estimates of β‐convergence have been hinted at in narrative reviews of the empirical convergence literature. While such reviews are useful, they only provide informal evidence as to the reasons for the study‐to‐study variation in reported convergence rates. In contrast, meta‐regression analysis is a way of formally measuring the roles played by study design and methodology in influencing β‐convergence. In cross‐national studies, convergence rates are found to be higher when panel estimation methods are used, and when human capital development, investment rates and spatial factors are controlled for. The longer the time span covered by the estimation, the lower the rates. In intra‐national studies, β‐convergence is higher when the investment rate is included as a conditioning variable and when GMM estimation methods are used. Rates are found to be lower in studies of developing countries.

Existing studies have found only limited empirical evidence of welfare state convergence. Moreover, although there are good theoretical reasons both for and against welfare state convergence, there are virtually no studies that have explicitly tested the assumed effects. We argue that the concept of conditional convergence helps to both better describe and explain the phenomenon. By applying error correction models, we examine conditional convergence of various types of social expenditure in 21 OECD countries between 1980 and 2005. Our empirical findings go beyond the existing literature in two respects. First, we show that there is very strong evidence of convergence across all categories of social expenditure when conditional factors are taken into account. Second, we demonstrate that the speed of convergence is highly driven by globalization and European Union membership and shaped by existing welfare state structures.