An empirical analysis of income convergence in the European Union

In this article, we investigate the convergence process within the European Union. More particularly, we study the convergence process of the new entrants from Central and Eastern Europe and of the 15 Western countries between 1990 and 2007. Applying a panel approach to the convergence equation derived from the Solow model, we show that new entrants and former members of the European Union can be seen as belonging to different groups of convergence. The existence of heterogeneity in the European Union or the Eurozone might affect their stability as the recent Greece's sovereign debt crisis illustrates it.