The Productivity Convergence Debate: A Theoretical and Methodological Reconsideration

Bruce Elmslie and William Milberg

Economics Working Paper Archive from Levy Economics Institute

Abstract: Two fundamental issues have been ignored in the convergence debate which are addressed in this paper. First, there has been little attention paid to the development of a general model able to explain convergence a divergence. Second, in the rush to put data to a convergence hypothesis, researchers have failed to consider certain methodological procedures with respect to the treatment of capital. To remedy this problem we use an input-output approach to measure catch-up. To address the theoretical lacunae we present case studies of Portugal and Japan, two countries which by 1959 had attained the threshold level of development required to join the “convergence- club”, but which, for various historical (path-dependent) reasons, have diverged rapidly from each other in the period since the late 1950’s.

JEL-codes: F02 O4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1994-06
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