Title: Evaluating the economic governance in terms of convergence: the case of the European Union

Authors: Ioana-Sorina Mihuţ; Larisa-Nicoleta Pop

Addresses: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University, 58-60 Theodor Mihali Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ' Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babes-Bolyai University, 58-60 Theodor Mihali Street, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract: The main aim of this research is to assess the degree of convergence between the most important indicators of the economic governance process, as defined by the World Bank. Using as a sample of data all the 28 member states of the European Union and a time frame between 1996 and 2013, the obtained results do not confirm the absolute convergence hypothesis, except for the case of 'voice and accountability' indicator. In order to investigate this debated subject, we applied the panel unit root tests on relative values, as they generate more accurate results. The overall conclusion of the study is that, due to the high degree of heterogeneity between states, high levels associated to public debts, political tensions and the national prioritisation of the economic governance aspects, there is still a high level of divergence between the member states of the European Union.

Keywords: economic governance indicators; European Union; economic convergence; economic disparities; EU member states; public debt; political tensions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEA.2016.078316

International Journal of Economics and Accounting, 2016 Vol.7 No.2, pp.156 - 173

Received: 04 Mar 2016
Accepted: 18 May 2016
Published online: 14 Aug 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article