This book's thirteen contributions bring together the results of recent research on determinants of regional specialization, growth, and convergence in the context of European integration. They offer fresh theoretical and empirical evidence on patterns of regional production structures, specialization, regional disparities, convergence and divergence processes, and evaluation of cohesion policies on both current and future European Union (EU) member states in the context of increased integration. These subjects are addressed in both individual and cross-country analysis using innovative methodologies. They examine structural changes and economic performance differentials across regions and countries in an enlarged EU as well as on evaluating existing policies aimed at reducing economic imbalances. This unique empirical analysis uses data sets in particular from the EU accession countries, and it presents for the first time in a unified framework theoretical foundations and empirical results of models used in the evaluation of cohesion politics.
The evaluation of cohesion policies in Ireland is used as a benchmark to compare recent evaluation experiences with models in Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. Integration, Growth and Cohesion in an Enlarged European Union will be of particular interest to researchers and policy makers working in the fields of economic integration, transition economies, and regional development.