IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/trapol/v112y2021icp80-93.html

Convergence and transition paths in transportation: Fresh insights from a club clustering algorithm

Author

Listed:
  • Saba, Charles Shaaba

Abstract

This study examines the convergence in global transportation for 102 countries spanning 1990–2018. The econometric convergence method of Phillips and Sul was employed to test club convergence and the modelling of transition paths to convergence. I disaggregated the panel data into five regions, based on the United Nations classification of geographical regions. Transportation infrastructure was constructed by using a composite index of transportation via the principal component analysis/method. Our findings suggest the presence of panel convergence at the global and regional levels (except for Africa, Europe and Oceania, which exhibited divergence). However, I identified different numbers of clubs for the regions using an iterative testing procedure and found that the results could not be generalised across the regions as there were both convergent and divergent clubs. The policy measures on transport infrastructures for the regions are discussed in this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Saba, Charles Shaaba, 2021. "Convergence and transition paths in transportation: Fresh insights from a club clustering algorithm," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 80-93.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:112:y:2021:i:c:p:80-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.08.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X21002390
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.08.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter C. B. Phillips & Donggyu Sul, 2007. "Transition Modeling and Econometric Convergence Tests," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(6), pages 1771-1855, November.
    2. C.S. Saba & N. Ngepah & N.M. Odhiambo, "undated". "Analysis of Convergence in Transport Infrastructure: A Global Evidence," Working Papers 2123, African Economic and Social Research Institute (AESRI).
    3. Chi, Junwook & Baek, Jungho, 2013. "Dynamic relationship between air transport demand and economic growth in the United States: A new look," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 257-260.
    4. Taotao Deng, 2013. "Impacts of Transport Infrastructure on Productivity and Economic Growth: Recent Advances and Research Challenges," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 686-699, November.
    5. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah, 2019. "A cross-regional analysis of military expenditure, state fragility and economic growth in Africa," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 2885-2915, November.
    6. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    7. Hong, Junjie, 2007. "Transport and the location of foreign logistics firms: The Chinese experience," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 597-609, July.
    8. Mehmet Aldonat Beyzatlar & Hakan Yetkiner, 2017. "Convergence in transportation measures across the EU-15," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 927-940, September.
    9. Laird, James J. & Venables, Anthony J., 2017. "Transport investment and economic performance: A framework for project appraisal," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-11.
    10. Wang, Chao & Kim, Yul-Seong & Kim, Chi Yeol, 2021. "Causality between logistics infrastructure and economic development in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 49-58.
    11. Iacono, Michael & Levinson, David, 2016. "Mutual causality in road network growth and economic development," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 209-217.
    12. Kveiborg, Ole & Fosgerau, Mogens, 2007. "Decomposing the decoupling of Danish road freight traffic growth and economic growth," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 39-48, January.
    13. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah & Christian Nsiah, 2020. "Convergence in military expenditure and economic growth in Africa and its regional economic communities: evidence from a club clustering algorithm," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1832344-183, January.
    14. de Bijl, Paul & Peitz, Martin, 2008. "Innovation, convergence and the role of regulation in the Netherlands and beyond," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 744-754, December.
    15. Zhang, Anming & Wan, Yulai & Yang, Hangjun, 2019. "Impacts of high-speed rail on airlines, airports and regional economies: A survey of recent research," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1-19.
    16. Bernard, Andrew B & Durlauf, Steven N, 1995. "Convergence in International Output," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 97-108, April-Jun.
    17. T. W. Swan, 1956. "ECONOMIC GROWTH and CAPITAL ACCUMULATION," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 32(2), pages 334-361, November.
    18. Cong, Long-ze & Zhang, Dong & Wang, Ming-li & Xu, Hong-feng & Li, Li, 2020. "The role of ports in the economic development of port cities: Panel evidence from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 13-21.
    19. Jiang, Xiushan & He, Xiang & Zhang, Lei & Qin, Huanhuan & Shao, Fengru, 2017. "Multimodal transportation infrastructure investment and regional economic development: A structural equation modeling empirical analysis in China from 1986 to 2011," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 43-52.
    20. Robert J. Barro & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 1991. "Convergence across States and Regions," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 107-182.
    21. David, Oladipo Olalekan, 2019. "Nexus between telecommunication infrastructures, economic growth and development in Africa: Panel vector autoregression (P-VAR) analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1-1.
    22. Song, Lili & van Geenhuizen, Marina, 2014. "Port infrastructure investment and regional economic growth in China: Panel evidence in port regions and provinces," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 173-183.
    23. Samir, Saidi & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2018. "The Long-Run Relationship between Transport Energy Consumption and Transport Infrastructure on Economic Growth in MENA Countries," MPRA Paper 85037, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Mar 2018.
    24. Peter C. B. Phillips & Donggyu Sul, 2009. "Economic transition and growth," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 1153-1185.
    25. Agbelie, Bismark R.D.K., 2014. "An empirical analysis of three econometric frameworks for evaluating economic impacts of transportation infrastructure expenditures across countries," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 304-310.
    26. Boarnet, Marlon G., 1995. "Transportation Infrastructure, Economic Productivity, and Geographic Scale: Aggregate Growth versus Spatial Redistribution," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt6sj276z4, University of California Transportation Center.
    27. Benevenuto, Rodolfo & Caulfield, Brian, 2019. "Poverty and transport in the global south: An overview," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 115-124.
    28. Farhadi, Minoo, 2015. "Transport infrastructure and long-run economic growth in OECD countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-90.
    29. Pasha, Obed & Wyczalkowski, Chris & Sohrabian, Dro & Lendel, Iryna, 2020. "Transit effects on poverty, employment, and rent in Cuyahoga County, Ohio," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 33-41.
    30. Pradhan, Rudra P., 2019. "Investigating the causal relationship between transportation infrastructure, financial penetration and economic growth in G-20 countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    31. Abramovitz, Moses, 1986. "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 385-406, June.
    32. Schuckmann, Steffen W. & Gnatzy, Tobias & Darkow, Inga-Lena & von der Gracht, Heiko A., 2012. "Analysis of factors influencing the development of transport infrastructure until the year 2030 — A Delphi based scenario study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(8), pages 1373-1387.
    33. Saba, Charles Shaaba & David, Oladipo Olalekan, 2020. "Convergence patterns in global ICT: Fresh insights from a club clustering algorithm," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    34. Douglas Sutherland & Sonia Araujo & Balázs Égert & Tomasz Koźluk, 2009. "Infrastructure Investment: Links to Growth and the Role of Public Policies," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 686, OECD Publishing.
    35. Ng, Choy Peng & Law, Teik Hua & Wong, Shaw Voon & Kulanthayan, S., 2017. "Relative improvements in road mobility as compared to improvements in road accessibility and economic growth: A cross-country analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 24-33.
    36. Wang, Yixuan & Wang, Nuo, 2019. "The role of the port industry in China's national economy: An input–output analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-7.
    37. Ozbay, Kaan & Ozmen-Ertekin, Dilruba & Berechman, Joseph, 2007. "Contribution of transportation investments to county output," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 317-329, July.
    38. Chakrabarti, Sandip, 2018. "Can highway development promote employment growth in India?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-9.
    39. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2001. "The growth of world trade: tariffs, transport costs, and income similarity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-27, February.
    40. David Banister, 2012. "Transport and economic development: reviewing the evidence," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(1), pages 1-2, January.
    41. de Bijl, Paul & Peitz, Martin, 2008. "Innovation, convergence and the role of regulation in the Netherlands and beyond," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(11), pages 744-754, December.
    42. Saidi, Samir & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2018. "The long-run relationships between transport energy consumption, transport infrastructure, and economic growth in MENA countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 78-95.
    43. Hooi Lean, Hooi & Huang, Wei & Hong, Junjie, 2014. "Logistics and economic development: Experience from China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 96-104.
    44. Andreas Irmen & Johanna Kuehnel, 2009. "Productive Government Expenditure And Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 692-733, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2024. "Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Growth and Development in Developing Regions: Evidence from a Comparative Analysis and a New Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14700-14748, September.
    2. Charles Shaaba Saba & Oladipo Olalekan David, 2023. "Identifying Convergence in Telecommunication Infrastructures and the Dynamics of Their Influencing Factors Across Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 1413-1466, June.
    3. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah, 2022. "Nexus between telecommunication infrastructures, defence and economic growth: a global evidence," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 139-177, October.
    4. Saba Charles Shaaba, 2022. "Defence Spending and Economic Growth in South Africa: Evidence from Cointegration and Co-Feature Analysis," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 28(1), pages 51-100, February.
    5. Bernard Banyuls & José Carlos Vides, 2025. "Convergence in R&D Expenditure in the European Union: A Club Convergence and KMeans Clustering Analysis," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 13223-13251, September.
    6. Villar-Roldan, Juan J. & Galiano, Aida & Martín-Álvarez, Juan Manuel, 2025. "Divergent growth paths: Conflict, state capacity, and convergence clubs in Sub-Saharan Africa," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charles Shaaba Saba & Oladipo Olalekan David, 2023. "Identifying Convergence in Telecommunication Infrastructures and the Dynamics of Their Influencing Factors Across Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 1413-1466, June.
    2. Saba, Charles Shaaba & David, Oladipo Olalekan, 2020. "Convergence patterns in global ICT: Fresh insights from a club clustering algorithm," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    3. Villar-Roldan, Juan J. & Galiano, Aida & Martín-Álvarez, Juan Manuel, 2025. "Divergent growth paths: Conflict, state capacity, and convergence clubs in Sub-Saharan Africa," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2024. "Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Growth and Development in Developing Regions: Evidence from a Comparative Analysis and a New Approach," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 14700-14748, September.
    5. Ştefan Cristian Gherghina & Mihaela Onofrei & Georgeta Vintilă & Daniel Ştefan Armeanu, 2018. "Empirical Evidence from EU-28 Countries on Resilient Transport Infrastructure Systems and Sustainable Economic Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-34, August.
    6. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah & Christian Nsiah, 2020. "Convergence in military expenditure and economic growth in Africa and its regional economic communities: evidence from a club clustering algorithm," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 1832344-183, January.
    7. Saidi, Samir & Mani, Venkatesh & Mefteh, Haifa & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Akhtar, Pervaiz, 2020. "Dynamic linkages between transport, logistics, foreign direct Investment, and economic growth: Empirical evidence from developing countries," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 277-293.
    8. Jayanti Behera & Dukhabandhu Sahoo, 2025. "Effect of globalization on convergence of development across regions of India," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1-45, August.
    9. Yasin Kutuk, 2024. "Divergence and club convergence in NATO," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 1013-1035, March.
    10. Charles Shaaba Saba & Nicholas Ngepah, 2022. "Nexus between telecommunication infrastructures, defence and economic growth: a global evidence," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 139-177, October.
    11. Penna, Christiano Modesto & Linhares, Fabricio Carneiro, 2013. "Há controvérsia entre análises de beta e sigma-convergência no Brasil?," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 67(1), April.
    12. Xiongbin Lin & Ian MacLachlan & Ting Ren & Feiyang Sun, 2019. "Quantifying economic effects of transportation investment considering spatiotemporal heterogeneity in China: a spatial panel data model perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 63(3), pages 437-459, December.
    13. Magrini, Stefano, 2004. "Regional (di)convergence," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 62, pages 2741-2796, Elsevier.
    14. Vaseem Akram & Jabir Ali, 2021. "Output convergence at sector level across Indian states: Evidence from weak sigma and club convergence analysis," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1166-1188, October.
    15. Kacou Yves Thierry Kacou, 2022. "Interregional inequality in Africa, convergence, and multiple equilibria: Evidence from nighttime light data," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 918-940, May.
    16. Amendola, Marco, 2025. "Does economic convergence diverge along the income distribution? Evidence from a decile-based analysis," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    17. Bartkowska, Monika & Riedl, Aleksandra, 2012. "Regional convergence clubs in Europe: Identification and conditioning factors," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 22-31.
    18. Nicholas Apergis & Christina Christou & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2018. "Convergence in Income Inequality: Further Evidence from the Club Clustering Methodology across States in the U.S," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 24(2), pages 147-161, May.
    19. Sedat Alataş & Erkam Sarı, 2021. "An Empirical Investigation on Regional Disparities in Public Expenditures: Province Level Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 217-240, November.
    20. Akram, Vaseem & Ali, Jabir, 2022. "Do countries converge in natural resources rents? Evidence from club convergence analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:112:y:2021:i:c:p:80-93. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/30473/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.