The geography of integration and regional growth in the EU

Abstract

The paper investigates the unevenness in EU trade integration patterns and the resulting growth asymmetries at the regional level. With the use of panel econometric models at the NUTS II level based on a novel trade dataset, the analysis estimates the impact of trade integration on regional growth and the heterogeneous effects of different types of trade partners on peripheral regions. The results suggest that the impact of integration is asymmetric for peripheral regions trading with core EU trade partners, revealing that different development levels are associated with different types of integration and unequal growth returns