We find very fast convergence in productivity for the 99 3-digit European industries over the 1985-1998 period. According to our estimates half of any productivity gap is closed on average in 10 years. The speed of convergence is much higher than obtained previously in the literature....

Empirical work on regional growth under spatial spillovers uses two workhorse models: the spatial Solow model and Verdoorn's model. This paper contrasts these two views on regional growth processes and demonstrates that in a spatial setting the speed of convergence is heterogenous in both...

This paper suggests that one should account for the endogeneity of important explanatory variables and the persistence of technology shocks when analyzing spatial convergence among regions.Specifically, it is argued that a systems approach is called for that includes the average growth rate and...