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Part of the book series: Advances in Spatial Science ((ADVSPATIAL))

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Abstract

A major concern for regional economists is whether regional per-capita incomes tend to converge or diverge over the long-run, and whether such trends apply to all or only limited groups of economies. This latter possibility is known as ‘club convergence’ and provides a realistic and detailed picture about regional growth (Fischer and Stirböck 2006). The notion of club convergence was originally introduced by Baumol (1986) in recognition of convergence within a subset of national economies. As Baumol and Wolff (1988, p. 1159) subsequently noted, however, “just how countries achieve membership in the convergence club, and on what basis they are sometimes ejected” is a difficult question to answer.

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Alexiadis, S. (2012). Introduction. In: Convergence Clubs and Spatial Externalities. Advances in Spatial Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31626-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31626-5_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31625-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31626-5

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