{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01747997086671522, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0065549890750182084, 'mean_word_length': 5.481132075471698, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 2, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Human Development Equalization Issues Within the European Union

The establishment and enlargement of the European Union have been partly motivated by catching up on higher living standards of living. This study examines whether developmental convergence can be demonstrated among the NUTS 2 regions of the Union. The existence of convergence among the EU is generally approached from an economic perspective by using macroeconomic indicators. Although these metrics are suitable for comparing the performance of Member States, they are less reflective of each country's social well-being. Several analyses, usually based on mortality indicators, have been conducted in an attempt to characterize convergence from a social point of view. However, these calculations are usually limited to country-level convergence analyses with diseases and causes of death in their focus. Thus, this study applies a complex measure, the Human Development Index (HDI), to examine convergence at a regional level. For this purpose, the regional HDI is calculated and the existence of absolute and conditional beta convergence is assessed. Our calculations confirm convergence among EU regions over the period between 2006 and 2017, but the analysis also reveals divergent trends and various national characteristics that will call into question the long-term sustainability of equalization.