Inequalities across regions in Europe are a matter of great interest to policy makers and politicians as well as members of the general public. Numerous studies have shown that income inequalities across European regions are large and persistent (Quah, 1996; Esteban, 2000). Interestingly, the...

Since the onset of the sovereign debt crisis, the crisis-stricken countries in Europe have been pushed to take drastic steps to consolidate their finances and reduce their budget deficits. Despite strong public opposition and largely damaging short-run effects, the countries have undertaken many...