Evidencia empírica sobre la movilidad y convergencia de las regiones europeas en el período 1981-1993

In this paper we analyze the convergence process among the European regions during the period 1981-1993. In this sense, the evolution of the relative position of the different regions and their mobility will be assessed by applying social change techniques. Although from the early 80’s a slightly divergent growth is observed, in the second half of this decade the regional disparities tend to decrease. For the entire period, the European growth process is not characterized by an increase in the regional disparities or by a polarization process, though the convergence rate estimated in these years is very small. We show the importance of national and geographical variables to explain the convergence process. However, empirical evidence on the existence of convergence clubs in the European Union is not found.