This assessment provides a long-term analysis of Hungary's economic trajectory under the administration of Viktor Orbán since 2010. Taking the start of the European financial crisis in 2009 as a baseline, it evaluates the impact of 'Orbánomics' - a policy mix defined by deterioration in...

This study examines global econo-environmental capability for 118 countries over 1995 to 2024 using a five-lens framework covering productive capacity (PC), developmental momentum (DM), resource efficiency (RE), degradation and depletion ratio (DDR), and remaining development potential (RDP)....

Many countries and regions remain below the level of economic activity of the world’s most advanced economies. Some countries form growth clubs, some are stuck in the middle-income trap, and some stay on a very low level of economic activity. Although this situation is well documented on the...

This paper examines economic and institutional convergence between EU Core, EU New, and Western Balkan countries over the period 2004-2023 using a comprehensive panel dataset and multiple convergence frameworks. Evidence of absolute β-convergence is found, although at a slow pace, while...

This paper examines the implications of heterogeneity in construction productivity on cross-country income disparity. Using a sample of 168 countries, we estimate the 10:1 spread in construction productivity as a factor of 49-fold in 2017. The construction productivity gap falls by 46 percent...

This introduction grounds the middle-income (MI) trap by looking at the empirical realities of firms, sectors, national, and subnational institutions embedded in global value chains (GVCs). While MI-trap scholarship has shed light on macro-structural constraints, it often overlooks international...

This paper examines the evolution of labour earnings distribution across 25 countries, comparing two reference years: 1995 and 2023. The study seeks to understand how labour earnings distribution has shifted over time in each country, highlighting changing patterns of inequality. The data are...

Because of convergence, initial income is an important explanatory variable in many growth regressions. Its omission can lead to misspecification bias that may seem to – but still does not – contradict the common albeit somewhat controversial empirical finding that natural resources, if not...

This paper provides a critical examination of the empirical basis of the output convergence debate in the light of recent developments in the analysis of dynamic heterogeneous panels with interactive effects. It shows that popular tools such as Barro's cross-country regressions and two-way fixed...

How do conflicts shape territories in the long run? To answer this question, this paper dissects population dynamics within Normandy throughout the 20th century. Despite the destruction caused by the 1944 Allied Landings, Normandy reversed the demographic decline it had experienced until 1940 -...

Understanding the structural change in catching-up regions and the spatial distribution of economic sectors is essential for designing comprehensive policy strategies to promote balanced economic development. This study examines the economic restructuring of the 11 central and eastern European...

First-class universities play an extremely important role in cultivating high-quality talents and technological innovation, serving as a significant indicator of a country's level of higher education development, developmental strength, and potential. However, there is little literature studying...

This paper analyzes the inequalities and convergence across countries using data on the top 100 players in chess and tennis. We explore the impact of time trends and exogenous global shocks on countries' representation in the top 100 players' lists in a manner akin to a natural experiment,...

The enlargement of the European Union towards the Western Balkans is experiencing unprecedented dynamism, supported by the launch of a tailored Euro 6 billion growth plan. This renewed momentum offers an important opportunity for the Western Balkans to accelerate economic convergence with the...

This study analyzes the dynamics of house prices across Istanbul's districts using a unique dataset of house prices and socioeconomic characteristics from 2010Q1 to 2022Q1. The log-t convergence test identifies four convergence clubs, with their formation beginning after 2015, highlighting the...

This study reveals that, over the past six decades, development towns have improved their socio-economic status both in terms of absolute mobility (compared to their past position) and relative mobility (progressing at a faster rate than other Jewish cities and towns). Between 1961 and 2019,...

In this work we analyze the evolution of productivity, in terms of the convergence of per capita income, of all the Spanish provinces, based on data from the previous decade. On the one hand, a cluster analysis allows us to group the Spanish provinces according to four income levels (low,...

This paper brings new compelling regional-level evidence on the environmental degradation brought about by intra-European value chains. The paper postulates the presence of pollution havens derived as a consequence of the European production integration. We identify a neat elites-ghettos divide...

This paper provides evidence on a WFH-related hypothesis that has not previously been tested empirically. The hypothesis is that the presence of fully remote workers, for whom residence and work locations are decoupled, should create a tendency toward wage convergence across cities within...

We investigate convergence among Indian states between 1981 and 2016 using the distance of any state from the leading state as our key variable. We focus on the role of three major sectors-agriculture, manufacturing, and infrastructure-in achieving convergence. Prima facie, we do not find any...

This paper analyzes the economic growth trajectories of post-communist countries that emerged following the collapse of the USSR. I treat the Soviet Union's sudden dissolution as a natural experiment that triggered rapid institutional changes, providing a unique opportunity to iso- late...

For decades Hungary, like the other post-socialist Central-Eastern European countries, followed a general policy of establishing and strengthening the institutions of democracy and a market economy. While Hungary initially benefited from the EU's convergence mechanisms, including access to the...

This paper analyzes how two major economic downturns-a recession and a stagflation-affected convergence in the European Union (EU). Absolute and conditional convergence rates are estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS) semilog regressions based on cross-sectional data from 2004 to 2022. The...

Unprecedented challenges require swift action. We need to modernise cohesion policy to boost Europe's competitiveness, defence and security, affordable housing, water resilience, and energy transition.

Unprecedented challenges require swift action. We need to modernise cohesion policy to boost Europe's competitiveness, defence and security, affordable housing, water resilience, and energy transition.