ANALYSIS OF THE CONVERGENCE OF UNEMPLOYMENT RATES BETWEEN THE SPANISH REGIONS USING DISPERSION INDEXES

The behaviour of the regional unemployment rates in Spain is analysed from 1976 to 2000 using Absolute and Relative Dispersion Indexes. The results show a lack of convergence in the regional rates and a cyclical pattern depending on the different evolution of such regional rates in booms and slumps. Once we distinguish the individual behavior of each regional rate compared to the national average and re-calculate the Dispersion Indexes taking into account the non-convergence regions, we see that from 1984 there is an important change in the evolution of the Absolute Dispersion Index and the amplitude of the fluctuations of the Relative Dispersion Index are smaller.