How Far Is Eastern Europe from Brussels?

ByRatna Sahay, Carlos A. Végh Gramont, Stanley Fischer

April 1, 1998

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

The current destination of Central and Eastern European countries—explicitly for some, implicitly for all—is Brussels. The concept of the distance from Brussels is multi-dimensional. One simple measure, not without theoretical and empirical justification, is physical distance. This paper’s focus, however, lies more in the distances in time and economic space. The paper first compares income gaps between Central and Eastern European and European Union (EU) countries, then evaluates recent economic performance in Central and Eastern Europe in light of EU standards. Finally; addresses the question of how long it will take the Central and Eastern European countries to close the income gap with EU countries.

Subject: Fiscal policy, Fiscal stance, Government consumption, Income, Inflation, National accounts, Personal income, Population and demographics, Population growth, Prices

Keywords: CEE countries to the EU, CEE country, CEE transition country, Central and Eastern Europe, convergence, countries of CEE, country, Eastern Europe, estimating income, Fiscal stance, gaps between CEE, Government consumption, Income, income gap, Inflation, Personal income, Population growth, transition, transition countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, WP

Pages:
37
Volume:
1998
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451847352.001
Issue:
053
Series:
Working Paper No. 1998/053
Stock No:
WPIEA0531998
ISBN:
9781451847352
ISSN:
1018-5941

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Notes

This paper was presented at the Kiel Week Conference held in Kiel, June 26-27, 1996, and at a conference on "The European Union and Central and Eastern Europe" held in Liechtenstein on July 4-6, 1996.

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