Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0

Author-Name: Maxim Chupilkin
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Oxford, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Author-Email: chupilkm@ebrd.com
Author-Person: 

Author-Name: Zsoka Koczan 
Author-Workplace-Name: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Author-Email: KoczanZ@ebrd.com
Author-Person: pko876

Author-Name: Alexander Plekhanov 
Author-Workplace-Name: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Author-Email: plekhana@ebrd.com 
Author-Person: ppl29

Title: 20 years of EU Membership: What Explains the Accession Bonus?

Abstract: 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of the EU accession of ten economies. Their
experience was characterised by rapid growth in per capita incomes. Of the 23
percentage points of average convergence observed between the EU-10 and
Germany between 2003 and 2023, 6 percentage points are shared with other
emerging markets with similar characteristics, while the remaining 17 percentage
points can be thought of as an 'EU accession bonus', facilitated by rapid growth
in exports relative to GDP as they became deeply integrated into supply chains.
Looking at the impact of EU accession in earlier waves, 20 years after joining, we
also estimate a large 'EU accession bonus' for Spain and Portugal (which joined
in 1986). Austria, Finland and Sweden (which joined in 1995) outperformed their
synthetic controls only in the longer term and when comparators exclude Iceland,
Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland - non-EU economies with access to the
internal market.

Classification-JEL: F15, F43, F63, O47
Keywords: European Union, accession bonus, income convergence, trade integration
Pages: 52-73
Volume: 24
Issue: 1
Year: 2025
File-URL: https://hitelintezetiszemle.mnb.hu/sw/static/file/fer-24-1-st3-chupilkin-koczan-plekhanov.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:mnb:finrev:v:24:y:2025:i:1:p:52-73