Is there convergence in emerging countries? Evidence from Latin America

DELBIANCO, FERNANDO; DABÚS, CARLOS

Cuadernos de Economía: Spanish Journal of Economics and Finance

Asociacion Cuadernos de Economia

Lugar: Barcelona; Año: 2020 vol. 43 p. 79 - 90

0210-0266

This paper examines if there is convergence in Latin America during the 1960-2008 period, by means of the cointegration technique and unit root tests with structural breaks. The study is focused on the possible existence of convergence in the region in relation with U.S. and at intraregional level, i.e. among the different Latin American countries with respect to Argentina, the highest per capita income country of the region in this period. Despite the high economic growth of Latin America in the last decade, in general the evidence found here indicates that this was not enough to provoke convergence, neither toward U.S., nor at intraregional level. Instead, the results could suggest that the gap among the countries remain in the long run, or even the existence of divergence.