On the Regional Convergence of Income at District Level in Slovakia

The aim of this paper is to investigate regional convergence of income at district level in Slovakia, and to answer the question of whether Slovak districts converge or diverge over time, and across different sectors of the Slovak economy. Our analyses are based on monthly income data on median wages and old-age pensions at district territorial level (LAU 1), and two types of convergence are assessed: convergence towards national median income and convergence towards regional (NUTS 3 regions) median income. Using the Markov chains on the spatially lagged bimonthly district medians we find that the highest degree of wages convergence is found in the districts of Banska Bystrica, Zilina and Nitra Regions; and the highest degree of old-age pensions convergence is found in the districts of Kosice and Banska Bystrica Regions. The given trends are influenced by the wages development in different economic activity sectors in these regions.