Convergence of labour's factor reward between regions of the EU

Abstract

This note reports research undertaken to establish whether the factor price for labour has converged across regions of the European Union between 1980 and 1994. A Markov chain is employed to examine relative average regional pay for a cross-section of 57 EU regions. Results suggest average regional pay converged over the whole period. This finding supports the hypothesis that economically integrating economies face a progressively similar level of factor rewards. However, the process slowed around 1992 and the reason for this warrants investigation.