TESTING FOR CONVERGENCE OF THE EU REGIONAL ECONOMIES

We examine changes in the economic performance of Western European regional economies, in particular, the degree of convergence in their economic performance (as measured by the growth of GDP per capita) since the mid 1970s when the larger European Union was established. Although results of simple model specifications suggest convergence has occurred, a move completely specified model, which includes structural variables, country dummies and an ERM dummy, shows no significant convergence across the European Union's regions in the 1980s.