Catching Up and Catch-Up Effect: Economic Growth in Post-Communist Europe (Lessons from the European Union and the Eastern Partnership States)

In this study, we analyse economic growth and structural change between 2000 and 2016 in the NUTS3 regions of the four countries forming the Visegrad Group (V4) and joining the European Union in 2004, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia. Our examination considers whether convergence can be observed in the case of the regions in the V4 countries over about one and a half decades, i.e., whether less developed regions catch up with more developed ones. Whether the economic growth of the regions took place at a relatively steady pace similar to that of the countries, or if there is a divide between the groups of regions (convergence clubs), which converge to different steady states. If there are convergence clubs, are the economic structure and workforce base of the clubs similar or different. Our study has two steps; first, we divide the 115 NUTS3 regions into convergence clubs with Phillips and Sul’s 2007 logt-test method, presenting the characteristics of their economic growth. We then conducted entropy calculations to test the robustness of the clubs, which provided information on the disparities inside and between the clubs, as well as inside and between the countries. Next, we present the economic structure and urbanrural types of clubs, covering the main characteristics of their labour force base and what factors the transition from one club to another depends on. The main conclusion of our study is that the five convergence clubs are completely separate and their economic structure and labour force base are also different.

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EUROPEAN FISCAL RULES AS A LIABILITY IN THE TRANSATLANTIC TRADE CONFLICT: LESSONS FROM NiGEM SIMULATIONS

National Institute Economic Review ◽

10.1017/nie.2020.41 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 254 ◽

pp. R54-R66 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sebastian Dullien ◽

Sabine Stephan ◽

Thomas Theobald

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

European Union ◽

Fiscal Policy ◽

Fiscal Rules ◽

The European Union ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Transatlantic Trade ◽

The Us ◽

Trump Administration

Under the Trump administration, a transatlantic trade conflict has been escalating step by step. First, it was about tariffs on steel and aluminium, then about retaliation for the French digital tax, which is suspended until the end of the year. Most recently, the US administration threatened the European Union with tariffs on cars and car parts because of Canadian seafood being subject to lower import duties. As simulations with NiGEM show, a further escalation of the transatlantic trade conflict has the potential to slow down economic growth significantly in the countries involved. This is a considerable risk given the fact that the countries have to cope with the enormous negative effects of the pandemic shock. Furthermore, the damage caused by the trade conflict depends on the extent to which the affected countries use fiscal policy to stabilise their economies.

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The Importance of Maritime Transport for Economic Growth in the European Union: A Panel Data Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147961 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7961

Author(s):

Alexandra Fratila (Adam) ◽

Ioana Andrada Gavril (Moldovan) ◽

Sorin Cristian Nita ◽

Andrei Hrebenciuc

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

European Union ◽

Panel Data ◽

Panel Data Analysis ◽

Maritime Transport ◽

The European Union ◽

Panel Data Regression ◽

Green Investment ◽

Port Infrastructure ◽

The Impact

Maritime transport is one of the main activities of the blue economy, which plays an important role in the EU. In this paper, we aim to assess the impact of maritime transport, related investment, and air pollution on economic growth within 20 countries of the European Union, using eight panel data regression models from 2007 to 2018. Our results confirm that maritime transport, air pollutants (NOx and SO2) from maritime transport, and investment in maritime port infrastructure are indeed positively correlated with economic growth. In other words, an increase of 10% in these factors has generated an associated increase in economic growth rate of around 1.6%, 0.4%, 0.8%, and 0.7% respectively. Alongside the intensity of economic maritime activities, pollution is positively correlated with economic growth, and thus it is recommended that policymakers and other involved stakeholders act to diminish environmental impacts in this sector using green investment in port infrastructure and ecological ships, in accordance with the current European trends and concerns.

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Are International Indices Good Predictors of Economic Growth? Panel Data and Cluster Analysis for European Union Countries

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13116003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 6003

Author(s):

Manuel Carlos Nogueira ◽

Mara Madaleno

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

European Union ◽

Panel Data ◽

Human Development ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

The European Union ◽

Global Competitiveness ◽

Environmental Performance Index ◽

European Union Countries ◽

And Cluster Analysis

Every year, news about the publication of rankings and scores of important international indexes are highlighted, with some of the most prestigious being the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), the Human Development Index (HDI), the Ease of Doing Business (EDB), the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Global Entrepreneurship (GEI). A country’s progression in these indices is associated with economic growth, especially since several empirical studies have found evidence to reinforce these beliefs, the indices having been built based on the scientific literature on economic growth. Building a database on these indices for European Union countries between 2007 and 2017 and using panel data methodologies and then 2SLS (Two-Stage Least Squares) to solve the problem of endogeneity, we verify empirically through panel data estimates, what is the relationship between the mentioned indices and the European Union countries’ economic growth for the period. However, as the European Union is made up of diverse countries with different economic and social realities, we divided the countries into six clusters and made an individual interpretation for each one. We found that human development and competitiveness play an important role in economic growth, and entrepreneurship also impacts this growth. Regarding income distribution, applying the Gini index, we found that only human development mitigates inequalities.

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Institutions of Conflict Management and Economic Growth in the European Union

Kyklos ◽

10.1111/1467-6435.00167 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 54 (4) ◽

pp. 509-531 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Friedrich Schneider ◽

Alexander F. Wagner

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

European Union ◽

Conflict Management ◽

The European Union

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What, Where and Why is Europe? Some Answers from Recent Historiography

European History Quarterly ◽

10.1177/0265691410376345 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 701-713 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Philipp Nielsen

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Big Bang ◽

The Political ◽

Clear Definition ◽

The European Union ◽

Alexander Von Humboldt ◽

Catching Up ◽

History Of ◽

Institutional Expansion ◽

Definition Of

Writing the history of a continent is generally a tricky business. If the continent is not even a real continent, but rather ‘a western peninsula of Asia’ (Alexander von Humboldt) without a clear definition of where the continent becomes peninsula, things do not get any easier. Despite these problems there is no dearth of trying. In fact, writing European histories seems to become more fashionable by the year — ironically just as the political and institutional expansion of Europe is losing steam. While the European Union is catching its breath, the historians are catching up. With the first wave of post-Euro and post-big-bang-Enlargement literature written, it is time for the reviewer to survey the landscape — and to provide some guideposts for future exploration.

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