151456 20251017144613.0 doi 10.1080/15140326.2025.2460149 sideral 143147 ART-2025-143147 eng González-Álvarez, María A. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-6271-4370 Economic convergence of Balkan regions towards EU 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted This paper analyzes convergence of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Balkan NUTS3 regions to average GDP of the EU27. Employing stochastic and -convergence approaches, we find strong evidence supporting convergence across the panel, indicating a robust catch-up trend of the Balkans with EU GDP with a significant break around the Great Recession. However, this pattern is not uniform across all individual regions, with some of them exhibiting divergence (mainly Greece and some regions in Croatia, Albania and Serbia). We also categorize groups of economies sharing similar divergence patterns. Additionally, among the regions that converge, convergence rates vary, with some regions progressing faster (Bulgaria, Montenegro and North Macedonia). Our results suggest the critical necessity for policy interventions to hasten the convergence process by encouraging substantial reforms. If regional disparities are addressed and balanced development is promoted, Balkan countries can achieve more robust integration into the European economic framework. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PID2020-114646RB-C44 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PID2022-139614NB-C2 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/PID2023-150095NB-C44 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Montañés, Antonio Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5872-631X Ruiz, Esther Uku, Skender 4000 415 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Análisis Económico Área Fund. Análisis Económico 28, 1 (2025), 248-278 J. appl. econ. Journal of Applied Economics 1514-0326 10616067 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151456/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 905242 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/151456/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:151456 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:18:10 ARTICLE