Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2008

Subjects

Geography -- Western Europe -- Economic aspects, Well-being -- Economic aspects

Abstract

Several Western European countries have integral territory thousands of miles from continental Europe. The economic performance in these "outermost" regions tests the impact of geographical isolation in a high income, institutionally uniform setting quite different from the geographical challenges of poor, agriculturally dependent developing countries. The European regional data used have different starting years by country. This required the derivation of a new non-linear estimation model for cross-regional growth. The outermost regions converge to national income levels of continental Europe at least as fast as other poor continental regions, showing no special impact of geography on economic growth. Looking at broader measures of well-being, though, these regions do have distinct problems of higher unemployment, lower education levels, and worse health outcomes.

Description

Paper commissioned by The European Union Committee of Regions for The Macroeconomic Situation of the Outermost Regions Conference.

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/4849

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