This paper studies the evolution of regional income disparities in Europe. Besides using a more complete data set that offers a more detailed look at the evolution of regional incomes in Western Europe than previous studies, it is the first to shed empirical light on regional income differences and their evolution in Eastern Europe during the transition phase from communism towards EU membership by means of a (spatial) Markov chain analysis. Regional income disparities in Western Europe are found to be decreasing over time and less persistent than reported in earlier studies. In the case of Eastern Europe some regions are likely to fall behind in terms of GDP per capita whereas a substantial number of other regions will be able to (slowly) catch up with their Western neighbours. Moreover in Western Europe localized regional conditions appear to be a main determinant of the observed income differences, whereas in Eastern Europe country-specific factors are of bigger importance. Copyright (c) 2008 the author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2008 RSAI.
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