The aim of this paper is to empirically identify convergence clubs in per capita incomes of European regions and to investigate whether initial conditions − as suggested by the club convergence hypothesis − are responsible for club formation. To tackle this issue, we propose a two-step...

<Para ID="Par1">This paper extends a model by Deneckere et al. (J Ind Econ 40:147–156, <CitationRef CitationID="CR2">1992</CitationRef>) to a multi-regional framework. It is assumed that some consumers are loyal to their respective regional firms, while others prefer the nationwide firm’s product. A third type of consumers is sensitive to price. With...</citationref></para>

Recent empirical studies on regional economic growth have extended regressions on convergence to account for externalities and spatial dependencies. Most of these studies, however, set the focus on whether regional output levels display convergence trends and consequently tend to ignore...

This paper sets up a theoretical model of regional growth with free factor movement. The analysis shows that factor endowments are crucial for a region’s attractiveness regarding factor relocations. In particular, lower endowments of human capital within other regions are advantageous for...

We examine whether the introduction of the euro had a significantly positive impact on the synchronization of business cycles among members of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) which might arise due to the lack of country-specific monetary policy shocks in the euro area. Empirical evidence on...

The extent of synchronization of national business cycles is a widespread indicator for gauging whether individual countries are indeed ready to adopt a common currency. The occurrence of asymmetric shocks and their consequences in Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) may hamper implementation of...

Based on a spatially augmented gravity model, the current paper isolates spatial interrelationships in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) not only across the destination but also across the origin country dimension of FDI. Results show that (i)...