Evidencing European regional convergence clubs with optimal grouping criteria

Abstract

Growth literature has considered the existence of groups of economies that have been termed convergence clubs. This paper groups European regions in order to detect whether the existence of convergence clubs can be defended in this context. To this end, we define optimum criteria using an inequality measure. Our classification shows stability for extreme groups based on a stratification index. Results show evidence in favour of the presence of convergence clubs for the backward European regions.