The effects of entering the eurozone on other central and eastern european countries in relation to Poland

Abstract

The aim of the article is to compare the major economic indicators relatively new EU members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia who have joined the Eurozone with Polish macroeconomic indicators. The results also reflect economic changes that took place in these countries after joining the Eurozone in the context of economic convergence as well as competitiveness. The analysis is based on Eurostat data and encompasses the period of 2005-2017. In order to verify the process of economic convergence among these Central and Eastern European countries and the EU 12, both the hypotheses of absolute β-convergence and σ-convergence were verified. To this end, suitable econometric equations were formulated, and comparative analyses were carried out. The results obtained demonstrate that the position of countries after joining the Eurozone varies from nation to nation. Latvia and Lithuania joined the Euro only a few years ago (2014 and 2015, respectively), thus the long term effects are not yet clear. In the other countries researched, however, macroeconomic indicators of stabilization can be observed after their entrance into the Eurozone. In this context, Poland's economy also seems to be stable, although it remains out of the Eurozone. All the countries researched appear to have experienced growing β- and σ-convergence with the European Union core (EU 12).