Konvergenz- und Wachstumseffekte der europäischen Regionalpolitik in Deutschland

摘要

This article analyses the impact of EU structural policy on the economic development of German regions between 1995 and 2004. In this period East-German regions have converged, while regional disparities have been increasing in West-Germany. In addition East-German Landkreise have caught up with poor western regions. However the overall gap between rich and poor Landkreise has risen. Economic theory describes a trade-off between regional convergence and aggregate growth. Our empirical findings support this hypothesis. It is shown that the EU's regional transfers speed up convergence, but have a negative impact on long-run aggregate growth.