Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/1256.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Will East Germany Become a New Mezzogiorno?

Author

Listed:
  • Boltho, Andrea
  • Carlin, Wendy
  • Scaramozzino, Pasquale
Abstract
Despite massive regional policy efforts, GDP per capita in Southern Italy has only briefly converged on Northern Italian levels (during the 1960s). Failure since then is associated with a policy switch from investment towards income maintenance, with reduced wage sensitivity to regional labour market conditions and with increases in rent-seeking opportunities and corruption. East Germany’s early experience of rapid wage and income, but not productivity, convergence raised fears that a Mezzogiorno scenario could be repeated. Since then, however, investment has been successfully encouraged, wage setting has become more flexible and productivity growth has risen. Given a more favourable non-economic environment as well, the prospects for East German convergence are now more promising.

Suggested Citation

  • Boltho, Andrea & Carlin, Wendy & Scaramozzino, Pasquale, 1996. "Will East Germany Become a New Mezzogiorno?," CEPR Discussion Papers 1256, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1256
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=1256
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barro, Robert J & Mankiw, N Gregory & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1995. "Capital Mobility in Neoclassical Models of Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 103-115, March.
    2. George A. Akerlof & Andrew K. Rose & Janet L. Yellen & Helga Hessenius, 1991. "East Germany in from the Cold: The Economic Aftermath of Currency Union," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 1-106.
    3. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    4. Schmidt, Klaus-Dieter, 1996. "German unification: A progress report," Kiel Working Papers 722, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    5. Lee, K. & Psaran, M.H. & Smith, R., 1995. "Growth and Convergence: A Multi-Country Empirical Analysis of the Solow Growth Model," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 9531, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Carlin, Wendy & Mayer, Colin, 1992. "Restructuring Enterprises in Eastern Europe," CEPR Discussion Papers 700, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Eckaus, Richard S., 1961. "The North-South Differential In Italian Economic Development," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(3), pages 285-317, September.
    8. Feldstein, Martin & Horioka, Charles, 1980. "Domestic Saving and International Capital Flows," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(358), pages 314-329, June.
    9. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1991. "Convergence across States and Regions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 107-182.
    10. Siebert, Horst, 1991. "German unification: the economics of transition," Kiel Working Papers 468, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Kaldor, Nicholas, 1970. "The Case for Regional Policies," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 17(3), pages 337-348, November.
    12. Abramovitz, Moses, 1986. "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 385-406, June.
    13. Hughes Hallett, A J & Ma, Yue, 1993. "East Germany, West Germany, and Their Mezzogiorno Problem: A Parable for European Economic Integration," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(417), pages 416-428, March.
    14. Canova, Fabio & Marcet, Albert, 1995. "The Poor Stay Poor: Non-Convergence Across Countries and Regions," CEPR Discussion Papers 1265, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. Carlin Wendy & Mayer Colin, 1995. "Structure and Ownership of East German Enterprises," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 426-453, December.
    16. Baumol, William J, 1986. "Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare: What the Long-run Data Show," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1072-1085, December.
    17. Bryson, Phillip J., 1992. "The economics of German reunification: A review of the literature," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 118-149, March.
    18. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 223-251, April.
    19. Krugman, Paul & Venables, Anthony J, 1990. "Integration and the Competitiveness of Peripheral Industry," CEPR Discussion Papers 363, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de la Fuente, Angel, 1997. "The empirics of growth and convergence: A selective review," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 23-73, January.
    2. Keller, Wolfgang, 2000. "From socialist showcase to Mezzogiorno? Lessons on the role of technical change from East Germany's post-World War II growth performance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 485-514, December.
    3. Magrini, Stefano, 2004. "Regional (di)convergence," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 62, pages 2741-2796, Elsevier.
    4. Erich Gundlach, 2003. "Growth Effects of EU Membership: The Case of East Germany," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 237-270, September.
    5. Mustafa Gömleksiz & Ahmet Şahbaz & Birol Mercan, 2017. "Regional Economic Convergence in Turkey: Does the Government Really Matter for?," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-16, July.
    6. ?gel de la Fuente, "undated". "Convergence Across Countries And Regions: Theory And Empirics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 447.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    7. Leone Leonida & Leone Leonida & Daniel Montolio, 2003. "Public Capital, Growth and Convergence in Spain. A Counterfactual Density Estimation Approach," Working Papers 2003/3, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    8. Akram, Vaseem & Ali, Jabir, 2022. "Do countries converge in natural resources rents? Evidence from club convergence analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Jones, Charles I, 1997. "Convergence Revisited," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 131-153, July.
    10. Persson, Joakim, 1999. "Demographic and Per Capita Income Dynamics: A Convergence Study on Demographics, Human Capital, and Per Capita Income for the US States," Working Paper Series 156, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Falko Juessen, 2009. "A distribution dynamics approach to regional GDP convergence in unified Germany," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 627-652, December.
    12. O'Rourke, Kevin H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1997. "Around the European periphery 1870–1913: Globalization, schooling and growth," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(2), pages 153-190, August.
    13. Moller, Joachim, 2001. "Regional Adjustment Dynamics," Discussion Paper Series 26180, Hamburg Institute of International Economics.
    14. Amélie Charles & Olivier Darne & Jean-François Hoarau, 2012. "Convergence of real per capita GDP within COMESA countries: A panel unit root evidence," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 49(1), pages 53-71, August.
    15. Ahmet Kýndap & Tayyar Dogan, 2019. "Regional Economic Convergence and Spatial Spillovers in Turkey," International Econometric Review (IER), Econometric Research Association, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, April.
    16. Daniel G. Swaine, 1998. "What do cross-sectional growth regressions tell us about convergence?," Working Papers 98-4, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    17. Andrea Bonilla BOLAÑOS, 2017. "Are South American Countries Really Converging?: The Influence of the Region's Integration Projects," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 130-149, September.
    18. Sala-i-Martin, Xavier X., 1996. "Regional cohesion: Evidence and theories of regional growth and convergence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1325-1352, June.
    19. Magrini, Stefano, 1999. "The evolution of income disparities among the regions of the European Union," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 257-281, March.
    20. Kenneth Button, 2011. "The Economist’s Perspective on Regional Endogenous Development," Chapters, in: Robert Stimson & Roger R. Stough & Peter Nijkamp (ed.), Endogenous Regional Development, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Convergence; Regional Development; Regional Economic Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:1256. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.