What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence?

Paul Johnson and Chris Papageorgiou ()

Journal of Economic Literature, 2020, vol. 58, issue 1, 129-75

Abstract: We examine the record of cross-country growth over the past fifty years and ask if developing countries have made progress on closing the income gap between their per capita incomes and those in the advanced economies. We conclude that, as a group, they have not and then survey the literature on absolute convergence with particular emphasis on that from the last decade or so. That literature supports our conclusion of a lack of progress in closing the income gap between countries. We close with a brief examination of the recent literature on cross-individual distribution of income, which finds that despite the lack of progress on cross country convergence, global inequality has tended to fall since 2000.

JEL-codes: E01 E13 F41 F62 O11 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (95)

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Related works:
Working Paper: What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence? (2018)
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DOI: 10.1257/jel.20181207

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