Abstract:

The contribution examines the relationship between economic performance and income inequality and taking into account their regional dimension. EU countries are the subject of research, while the emphasis is laid on the new Member States, which have undergone a transformation process. By using the non-parametric method, the potential to reduce inequalities in the economic level of EU countries is evaluated. The method of DEA (data envelopment analysis) is used to examine to what extent is reflected the scale of income and regional disparities in their level of economic performance across countries, respectively what is the potential for improvement in a reduction of inequality. Decomposition of inefficiency revealed that particularly in the new EU Member States, there is a large area of real convergence in reducing regional disparities.