Abstract
Using annual NUTS-3 data for eleven Central and Eastern European member states from 2000 to 2023, this paper studies whether regional catch-up after EU enlargement reflects absolute or conditional convergence. I estimate rolling ten-year convergence regressions within a steady-state framework in which regional GDP per capita depends on investment, human capital, and EU exposure. The results show strong conditional convergence during the early and middle phases of enlargement: Regions above their predicted steady states grow more slowly, consistent with adjustment toward heterogeneous long-run targets. This relationship weakens over time and becomes statistically indistinguishable from zero in later windows. Absolute convergence is weaker throughout and disappears earlier. EU enlargement was associated with meaningful but transitional regional catch-up, but persistent differences in fundamentals continue to sustain spatial inequality.
DOI
10.5642/urceu.HGKI8191
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Kardashyan, Armine
(2026)
"Converging, But Not Together: Regional Growth After EU Enlargement,"
Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union:
Vol. 2026, Article 7.
DOI: 10.5642/urceu.HGKI8191
Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/urceu/vol2026/iss1/7
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