Interest rates and convergence across Italian regions

Citation

Dow S, Montagnoli A & Napolitano O (2009) Interest rates and convergence across Italian regions. Stirling Economics Discussion Paper, 2009-13.

Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evidence for economic convergence across Italian regions using trends in interest rate spreads and premia as indicators of regional credit conditions. Our results indicate the presence of persistent interest rate differentials, and thus an absence of convergence across the twenty political regions, but we observe a high degree of convergence within the four macroeconomic areas. On the other hand we find evidence of a strong level of homogeneity in credit conditions within each of the four macroeconomic regions.

Keywords
interest rates; unit root; panel data; convergence; Italy; Economics; Finance Italy; Interest rates Italy Econometric models; Interest rates Italy

JEL codes

• C23: Single Equation Models; Single Variables: Panel Data Models; Spatio-temporal Models
• E43: Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
• R11: Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
• R15: General Regional Economics: Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Models

People

Professor Sheila Dow

Emeritus Professor, Economics