IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/izm/prcdng/200618.html

Convergence of Human Development Levels

In: Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources

Author

Listed:
  • Fuat Erdal

    (Adnan Menderes University)

  • Emre Can

    (Izmir University of Economics)

  • Gaye Kocabas

    (Izmir University of Economics)

Abstract

Reducing regional disparities can be seen as one of the main conditions of sustainable development. The neoclassical convergence hypothesis states that regional or inter-country differences would be reduced by development. Almost all studies test the convergence hypothesis by using per capita income levels and find mixed results. However, convergence of development levels and living standards is more important for the sustainability of economic growth. This study aims to re-test the convergence hypothesis by employing two more indicators of development by the UNDP, namely health index and education index, in addition to per capita income levels. By using the beta convergence test, which controls if there is a tendency for per capital income to equalize across economies, convergence of development levels is tested among a panel of 177 countries. The empirical evidences from the cross-sectional analyses suggest the existence of a significant converging trend among the countries with respect to education levels and per capita income levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Fuat Erdal & Emre Can & Gaye Kocabas, 2006. "Convergence of Human Development Levels," Papers of the Annual IUE-SUNY Cortland Conference in Economics, in: Oguz Esen & Ayla Ogus (ed.), Proceedings of the Conference on Human and Economic Resources, pages 207-212, Izmir University of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:izm:prcdng:200618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eco.ieu.edu.tr/wp-content/proceedings/2006/0618.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de la Fuente, Angel, 2002. "On the sources of convergence: A close look at the Spanish regions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 569-599, March.
    2. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    3. Paul Cheshire & Stefano Magrini, 2000. "Endogenous Processes in European Regional Growth: Convergence and Policy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 455-479.
    4. Drennan, Matthew P. & Lobo, Jose, 1999. "A Simple Test for Convergence of Metropolitan Income in the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 350-359, November.
    5. Bairam, Erkin I. & McRae, Shaun D., 1999. "Testing the convergence hypothesis: a new approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 351-355, September.
    6. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2002. "The effects of integration on regional disparities: Convergence, divergence or both?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 539-567, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Coscia, Michelle & Cheston, Timothy & Hausmann, Ricardo, 2017. "Institutions vs. Social Interactions in Driving Economic Convergence: Evidence from Colombia," Working Paper Series rwp17-014, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    3. Soukiazis, Elias & Antunes, Micaela, 2011. "Is foreign trade important for regional growth? Empirical evidence from Portugal," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 1363-1373, May.
    4. Mihaela ONOFREI & Elena CIGU, 2017. "Overview on Regional Economic Development Gaps across the EU," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 9(3), pages 272-292, October.
    5. Jesus regstdpo-Cuaresma & Neil Foster & Robert Stehrer, 2011. "Determinants of Regional Economic Growth by Quantile," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 809-826.
    6. Paavo Okko, 2003. "Regional growth and convergence via integration – the case of the large EU," ERSA conference papers ersa03p445, European Regional Science Association.
    7. José Manuel González-Páramo & Diego Martínez López, "undated". "Public Investment and Convergence in the Spanish Regions," Studies on the Spanish Economy 112, FEDEA.
    8. Breidenbach, Philipp & Mitze, Timo & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2016. "EU structural funds and regional income convergence: A sobering experience," Ruhr Economic Papers 608, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Herbst, Mikolaj & Wójcik, Piotr, 2011. "Growth and divergence of the polish subregions over 1995–2006: a search for determinants and spatial patterns," MPRA Paper 34731, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Alberto Díaz Dapena & Fernando Rubiera-Morollon & Dusan Paredes, 2019. "New Approach to Economic Convergence in the EU: A Multilevel Analysis from the Spatial Effects Perspective," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 42(3-4), pages 335-367, May.
    11. Schmidt, Christoph & Mitze, Timo & Breidenbach, Philipp, 2016. "EU Structural Funds and Regional Income Convergence – A Sobering Experience," CEPR Discussion Papers 11210, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Mayerhofer, Peter, 2002. "Austrian border regions and eastern integration: A low competitiveness - high growth paradoxon," HWWA Discussion Papers 202, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    13. Leone Leonida & Daniel Montolio, 2001. "Convergence and Inter-Distributional Dynamics among the Spanish Provinces. A Non-parametric Density Estimation Approach," Working Papers 2001/7, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    14. Valérie Canals & Claude Diebolt & Magali Jaoul, 2005. "Higher Education and Convergence in France: 1964-2000," Working Papers 05-09, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    15. George Hammond & Eric Thompson, 2002. "Mobility and Modality Trends in US State Personal Income," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 375-387.
    16. Mª Jesús Delgado & Inmaculada Álvarez, 2004. "Technological catch-up in the 15 European Union member states: the role of public and educational capital," European Economy Group Working Papers 31, European Economy Group.
    17. Wenyue Cui & Jie Tang & Shuai Yuan & Xin Dai, 2025. "Innovation Convergence: A System Review," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 13349-13392, September.
    18. Steve Cook, 2012. "β-convergence and the Cyclical Dynamics of UK Regional House Prices," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(1), pages 203-218, January.
    19. LAU, Chi Keung Marco, 2010. "New evidence about regional income divergence in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 293-309, June.
    20. Aiginger, K, 2004. "The Bumpy Road of Convergence: the Catching Up Experience in Portugal, Spain and Greece," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 22, pages 1-22, Diciembre.

    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:izm:prcdng:200618. 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: Ayla Ogus Binatli (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deieutr.html .

    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.