Economic convergence of the Western Balkans towards the EU-15

• Published in: Revista Finanzas y Política Económica Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 41 - 53
• Main Authors: Gyula-Nagy, Sándor, Siljak, Dzenita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bogota Universidad Católica de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas 01.01.2019; Universidad Católica de Colombia
• Subjects: Alliances; beta convergence; Convergence; Economic crisis; Economic growth; EU membership; european union; Growth rate; Hypotheses; old member states; Per capita; SOCIAL SCIENCES, INTERDISCIPLINARY; Telematics; western balkans; Greece; Kosovo; Ireland; Bosnia-Hercegovina; Europe; Portugal; Spain; crescimento econômico; economic growth; crecimiento económico; old Member States; Western Balkans; European Union; convergência beta; Bálcãs Ocidentais; convergencia beta; Beta convergence; Unión Europea; União Europeia; antigos Estados-membros; Balcanes Occidentales; antiguos Estados miembros
• ISSN: 2248-6046; 2011-7663
• DOI: 10.14718/revfinanzpolitecon.2019.11.1.3

This paper aims to analyze the beta convergence of Western Balkan countries towards the EU-15 Member States in the period 2004-2016, and two sub-periods: 2004-2008 and 2009-2013. Beta convergence is based on the neoclassical growth theory and tests the hypothesis that poor countries tend to grow faster than rich countries, in per capita terms. The empirical findings support the economic convergence hypothesis, with convergence rates ranging from 1.1% to 2.3%. The results show that the recent financial crisis negatively affected the absolute and conditional convergence process, when economic variables are included. The main limitation of the research is the availability of data.