DUAL-MODEL APPROACH TO MEASURING CONVERGENCE SUSTAINABILITY IN THE VISEGRAD GROUP

Abstract

Economic convergence has become a European research topic of interest during recent decades, particularly since new member countries joined the EU in 2004. Measuring cross-country convergence focuses on real convergence, taking per capita income as a measure of living standards based on the convergence criteria defined by Sala-i-Martin (1996). The objective of this paper is to bring together supply-side (real convergence) and demand-side (BoP-constrained approach) concepts of economic growth aimed at identification of convergence sources in the emerging economies of the Visegrad Group. The sustainability of convergence in this study utilizes the BoP-constrained growth theory developed by A. Thirlwall (1979). Our results show that all the countries in the Visegrad Group exhibit relatively instant convergence, which could continue considering the intensity and direction of structural changes that affect the export demand elasticities and labour productivity.