The study analyzes the convergence of labor productivity in 259 NUTS-2 regions of EU-27 between 1995 and 2007, comparing the responses of the solovian model proposed by Mankiw et al. (1992) and an extension. For the estimates we used an econometric model based on spatial filters with characteristics similar to Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR). This technique allows to estimate different convergence rates for each region and to manage both the presence of spatial spillovers and the structural differences in the regional economies. The results indicate that global convergence rates are comparable to those obtained in many previous studies, while local coefficients help us to interpret in a more realistic way the regional growth paths.
Keywords: Economic growth, productivity convergence, spatial filters
Jel Code: O40, C21, R11