Real convergence in EU countries. A cluster analysis
Real convergence in EU countries. A cluster analysis

Summary/Abstract: An increasing number of studies on the convergence attempted to answer the question whether the poorer economies will overtake the economies of the richer ones in time. Also, they attempted to determine whether European integration will have a positive or negative impact on the long term growth of the member countries. In such a context, any measure of inequalities between countries or regions presents great interest. The academic literature attempted a substantiation of quantitative criteria on the measurement of real economic convergence. In the first part of the study we conducted a brief review of the literature devoted to the analysis of real convergence. It also presented the research methodology of cluster analysis, followed in the second part of the study by analysis of the distance between Member EU-28 and the 19 Eurozone to highlight similarities between these states through clustering. The time frame allowed emphasizing some of the effects of the economic crisis on the degree of real convergence.

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