Emu Versus The Regions? Regional Convergence And Divergence In Euroland

Opinion is sharply divided over whether EMU is leading to regional economic convergence or regional economic divergence. This paper examines the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence for these opposing views, and presents some additional analysis of patterns of regional productivity trends and employment growth over the period 1975-1998. The picture that emerges is a complex one: whilst worker productivity shows only very weak convergence across the EU regions (a process which halted altogether after the mid-1980s), regional employment growth has been sharply divergent.