This paper discusses a large-scale factor model for the German economy. Following the recent literature, a data set of 121 time series is used via principal component analysis to determine the factors, which enter a dynamic model for German GDP. The model is compared with alternative univariate...

Main topics of the following analysis are the development of spatial structure and the question whether the economic disparities between agglomerations and peripheral areas will con- or diverge. Frequently, economic disparities are measured by per capita income. Because of the relationship...

The paper bases itself on recent theoretical writings in growth economics that emphasize the effects of both own R&D efforts and of interregional technology spillovers on regions´ productivity. We propose robust estimation techniques to evaluate the R&D spillovers across West German functional...

The paper proposes a technique to jointly tests for groupings of unknown size in the cross sectional dimension of a panel and estimates the parameters of each group, and applies it to identifying convergence clubs in income per-capita. The approach uses the predictive density of the data,...

Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich mit Wachstumsabhängigkeiten zwischen räumlich benachbarten Gebieten in Westdeutschland im Zeitraum von 1976 bis 1996. Die Hypothese für derartige Wachstumsabhängigkeiten leitet sich aus der räumlichen Dimension von Mechanismen ab, denen ein...

The partnership between the EU and the ACP countries (that include 38 of the world's 49 least developed countries) has a long standing history and was renewed in 2000 with the Cotonou Agreement. Furthermore, the European Commission has become the world's fifth largest donor of development aid -...

We estimate the speed of income convergence for a sample of 196 European NUTS 2 regions over the period 1985-1999. So far there is no direct estimator available for dynamic panels with strong spatial dependencies. We propose a two-step procedure, which involves first spatial filtering of the...

Using entropy indices and associated bootstrap tests, we describe the distribution of economic sectors across Western European regions over the 1975-2000 period. We decompose geographic concentration into its within-country and between-country components. In addition, we estimate...

Williamson (1965) argued that catching up countries experiencing strong national growth tend also to see a widening in regional disparities, whereas in more developed economies strong national growth and falling regional disparities could go hand in hand. We find some evidence of a trade-off...

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the issue of income convergence has received considerable attention in economic research. Although a vast number of empirical studies has emerged, evidence on the role of spatial interaction is still rather scarce. The present paper is an attempt to provide...