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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Spatial Convergence Clubs and the European Regional Growth Process,1980–1995

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In international cross-country studies, evidence for club convergence has often been found using different methodologies (Baumol 1986; Durlauf and Johnson 1995; Quah 1996a, 1997). In the case of the European regions, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) and Le Gallo et al. (see Chap. 3) have shown that the convergence rate among European regions is slow and that GDP disparities seem to be persistent despite the European economic integration process and higher growth rates of some poorer regions, as highlighted as well in the European Commission reports (1996, 1999). Moreover, over the 1980–1995 period, Ertur and Le Gallo (see Chap. 2) found that the geographical distribution of European regions exhibits a persistent polarization pattern between rich regions in the north and poor regions in the south.