Migration and Regional Convergence in the European Union

WIFO Working Papers, No. 419

35 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2012

See all articles by Peter Huber

Peter Huber

Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO); Mendel University in Brno

Gabriele Tondl

Vienna University of Economics - Institute for European Affairs/Department of Economics

Date Written: January 11, 2012

Abstract

We offer an empirical, econometric analysis of the impact of migration on the EU 27's NUTS-2 regions in the period 2000-2007. While our results indicate that migration had no statistical impact on regional unemployment in the EU it had a significant impact on both per-capita GDP and productivity. The coefficients suggest that a 1 percent increase in immigration to immigration regions increased per-capita GDP by about 0.02 percent and productivity by about 0.03 percent. For emigration regions a 1 percent increase in the emigration rate leads to a reduction of 0.03 percent in per-capita GDP and 0.02 percent in productivity. Since immigration regions are also often regions with above-average GDP and productivity while emigration regions in Europe practically all have below-average GDP, migration seems to induce divergence rather than convergence.

Keywords: Migration, Convergence, Unemployment

JEL Classification: O15, O18, R23, R11

Suggested Citation

Huber, Peter and Tondl, Gabriele, Migration and Regional Convergence in the European Union (January 11, 2012). WIFO Working Papers, No. 419, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2075700 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2075700

Peter Huber (Contact Author)

Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) ( email )

P.O. Box 91
Wien, A-1103
Austria

Mendel University in Brno ( email )

Zemedelska 1
Brno, South Moravia 61200
Czech Republic

Gabriele Tondl

Vienna University of Economics - Institute for European Affairs/Department of Economics ( email )

Augasse 2-6
A-1090 Vienna
Austria
+43 1 31336 5566 (Phone)
+43 1 31336 758 (Fax)

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