IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecosys/v47y2023i4s0939362523000626.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional convergence in Russia: Estimating an augmented Solow model

Author

Listed:
  • Oshchepkov, Aleksey
  • Lehmann, Hartmut
  • Silvagni, Maria Giulia

Abstract

This paper studies convergence in per capita gross regional products across Russian regions in the period from 1996 to 2017. By applying the system GMM technique we estimate growth equations that are directly derived from the classic Solow model, augmented with human capital and migration and considering possible spatial effects. Our main estimates establish a convergence rate of around 2% per year. While interregional migration and interdependencies of the growth of Russian regions contribute to the convergence process, the role of human capital is ambiguous: when we employ system GMM we do not find any significant impact of human capital on regional growth no matter how we measure human capital, while pooled OLS estimates establish a positive contribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Oshchepkov, Aleksey & Lehmann, Hartmut & Silvagni, Maria Giulia, 2023. "Regional convergence in Russia: Estimating an augmented Solow model," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(4).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecosys:v:47:y:2023:i:4:s0939362523000626
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecosys.2023.101128
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0939362523000626
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecosys.2023.101128?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Falcetti, Elisabetta & Lysenko, Tatiana & Sanfey, Peter, 2006. "Reforms and growth in transition: Re-examining the evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 421-445, September.
    2. Dolado, Juan J & Goria, Alessandra & Ichino, Andrea, 1994. "Immigration, Human Capital and Growth in the Host Country: Evidence from Pooled Country Data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 7(2), pages 193-215.
    3. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler & Jonathan Temple, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Papers 2001-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    4. Konstantin A. Kholodilin & Aleksey Oshchepkov & Boriss Siliverstovs, 2012. "The Russian Regional Convergence Process," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 5-26, May.
    5. Ms. Irina Dolinskaya & Ms. Irina Tytell, 2002. "Transition and Regional Inequality in Russia: Reorganization or Procrastination?," IMF Working Papers 2002/169, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    7. Elena Vakulenko, 2016. "Does migration lead to regional convergence in Russia?," International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 9(1), pages 1-25.
    8. Ekrame Boubtane & Jean-Christophe Dumont & Christophe Rault, 2016. "Immigration and economic growth in the OECD countries 1986–2006," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 68(2), pages 340-360.
    9. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    10. Maria Abreu & Henri L. F. de Groot & Raymond J. G. M. Florax, 2005. "A Meta‐Analysis of β‐Convergence: the Legendary 2%," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 389-420, July.
    11. Valentina Meliciani, 2006. "Income and employment disparities across European regions: The role of national and spatial factors," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 75-91.
    12. Barro, Robert J & Mankiw, N Gregory & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1995. "Capital Mobility in Neoclassical Models of Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 103-115, March.
    13. Tochkov, Kiril, 2021. "Regional Convergence In Large Emerging Economies: A Distribution Dynamics Approach," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 154-177, January.
    14. N. A. Buranshina & L. I. Smirnykh, 2018. "The human capital of migrants and the convergence of wages in the regions of Russia," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 12.
    15. Alisher Akhmedjonov & Marco Chi Keung Lau & Berna Balcı İzgi, 2013. "New evidence of regional income divergence in post-reform Russia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(18), pages 2675-2682, June.
    16. 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.
    17. Alexeev, Michael & Chernyavskiy, Andrey, 2018. "A tale of two crises: Federal transfers and regional economies in Russia in 2009 and 2014–2015," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 175-185.
    18. Steven N. Durlauf & Andros Kourtellos & Chih Ming Tan, 2008. "Are Any Growth Theories Robust?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(527), pages 329-346, March.
    19. Barro, Robert T. & Sala-I-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Regional growth and migration: A Japan-United States comparison," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 312-346, December.
    20. Gabriel Di Bella & Oksana Dynnikova & Mr. Francesco Grigoli, 2017. "Fiscal Federalism and Regional Performance," IMF Working Papers 2017/265, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Thorsten Beck & Luc Laeven, 2006. "Institution building and growth in transition economies," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 157-186, June.
    22. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    23. Ichiro Iwasaki & Keiko Suganuma, 2015. "Foreign direct investment and regional economic development in Russia: an econometric assessment," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 209-255, November.
    24. N. Gregory Mankiw & David Romer & David N. Weil, 1992. "A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(2), pages 407-437.
    25. Caselli, Francesco & Esquivel, Gerardo & Lefort, Fernando, 1996. "Reopening the Convergence Debate: A New Look at Cross-Country Growth Empirics," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 363-389, September.
    26. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    27. Berkowitz, Daniel & DeJong, David N., 2002. "Accounting for growth in post-Soviet Russia," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 221-239, March.
    28. Robert J. Barro, 2015. "Convergence and Modernisation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 125(585), pages 911-942, June.
    29. Sergei Guriev & Elena Vakulenko, 2012. "Convergence between Russian regions," Working Papers w0180, New Economic School (NES).
    30. Angrist,Noam & Djankov,Simeon & Goldberg,Pinelopi Koujianou & Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2019. "Measuring Human Capital," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8742, The World Bank.
    31. Bernard Fingleton & Enrique López‐Bazo, 2006. "Empirical growth models with spatial effects," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(2), pages 177-198, June.
    32. Gianni Carvelli, 2020. "Beyond Beta-Convergence: Convergence in Differences and its Application to the Russian Regions," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(10), pages 1-45, October.
    33. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt & David Mayer-Foulkes, 2005. "The Effect of Financial Development on Convergence: Theory and Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(1), pages 173-222.
    34. Vladimir Popov, 2001. "Reform Strategies and Economic Performance: The Russian Far East as Compared to Other Regions," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 43(4), pages 33-66, December.
    35. Rudiger Ahrend, 2005. "Speed of Reform, Initial Conditions or Political Orientation? Explaining Russian Regions' Economic Performance," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 289-317.
    36. 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.
    37. A. A. Mikhaylova & V. V. Klimanov & A. I. Safina, 2018. "The impact of intergovernmental fiscal transfers on economic growth and the structure ofthe regional economy," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 1.
    38. Fedorov, Leonid, 2002. "Regional Inequality and Regional Polarization in Russia, 1990-99," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 443-456, March.
    39. Ceren Ozgen & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2010. "The effect of migration on income growth and convergence: Meta‐analytic evidence," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(3), pages 537-561, August.
    40. Shankar, Raja & Shah, Anwar, 2003. "Bridging the Economic Divide Within Countries: A Scorecard on the Performance of Regional Policies in Reducing Regional Income Disparities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(8), pages 1421-1441, August.
    41. Fischer, Lorenz Benedikt & Pfaffermayr, Michael, 2018. "The more the merrier? Migration and convergence among European regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 103-114.
    42. Oleg Badunenko & Kiril Tochkov, 2010. "Soaring dragons, roaring tigers, growling bears," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 18(3), pages 539-570, July.
    43. Hansjörg Blöchliger & Olivier Durand-Lasserve, 2018. "The drivers of regional growth in Russia: A baseline model with applications," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1523, OECD Publishing.
    44. Lkhagvasuren, Damba, 2014. "Education, mobility and the college wage premium," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 159-173.
    45. Lehmann, Hartmut & Oshchepkov, Aleksey & Silvagni, Maria Giulia, 2020. "Regional Convergence in Russia: Estimating a Neoclassical Growth Model," IZA Discussion Papers 13039, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    46. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Series Working Papers 2001-W21, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    47. Peter Egger & Michael Pfaffermayr, 2006. "Spatial convergence," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 85(2), pages 199-215, June.
    48. Yerken Turganbayev, 2016. "Regional convergence in Kazakhstan," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 314-334, July.
    49. A. A. Mikhaylova & V. V. Klimanov & A. I. Safina., 2018. "The impact of intergovernmental fiscal transfers on economic growth and the structure of the regional economy," VOPROSY ECONOMIKI, N.P. Redaktsiya zhurnala "Voprosy Economiki", vol. 1.
    50. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1992. "Convergence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(2), pages 223-251, April.
    51. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/29rpk7q0oq98a9ckfivpgfdvo0 is not listed on IDEAS
    52. Kazuhiro Kumo, 2017. "Interregional Migration: Analysis of Origin-to-Destination Matrix," Studies in Economic Transition, in: Demography of Russia, chapter 8, pages 261-314, Palgrave Macmillan.
    53. Hanushek, Eric A., 2013. "Economic growth in developing countries: The role of human capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 204-212.
    54. Sergio Rey & Brett Montouri, 1999. "US Regional Income Convergence: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 143-156.
    55. Maria Kaneva & Galina Untura, 2019. "The impact of R&D and knowledge spillovers on the economic growth of russian regions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 301-334, March.
    56. Nazrul Islam, 1995. "Growth Empirics: A Panel Data Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(4), pages 1127-1170.
    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. Hartmut Lehmann & Aleksey Oshchepkov & Maria Giulia Silvagni, 2020. "Regional Convergence In Russia: Estimating A Neoclassical Growth Model," HSE Working papers WP BRP 232/EC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    2. Lehmann, Hartmut & Silvagni, Maria Giulia, 2013. "Is There Convergence of Russia's Regions? Exploring the Empirical Evidence: 1995–2010," IZA Discussion Papers 7603, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Kubis, Alexander & Schneider, Lutz, 2012. "Human capital mobility and convergence : a spatial dynamic panel model of the German regions," IAB-Discussion Paper 201223, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Vogel, Johanna, 2013. "Regional Convergence in Europe: A Dynamic Heterogeneous Panel Approach," MPRA Paper 51794, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Romano Piras, 2013. "Can the Augmented Solow Model with Migration Explain the Italian Internal Brain Drain?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 27(2), pages 140-163, June.
    6. Bayraktar-Sağlam, Bahar & Yetkiner, Hakan, 2014. "A Romerian contribution to the empirics of economic growth," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 257-272.
    7. 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.
    8. Harald Badinger & Werner Muller & Gabriele Tondl, 2004. "Regional Convergence in the European Union, 1985- 1999: A Spatial Dynamic Panel Analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(3), pages 241-253.
    9. 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.
    10. Tobias Hagen & Philipp Mohl, 2011. "Econometric Evaluation of EU Cohesion Policy: A Survey," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume III, chapter 16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Fernando Mayoral & Carlos Garcimartín, 2013. "The impact of population on the reduction of steady-state disparities across Spanish regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(1), pages 49-69, February.
    12. Dimitar Eftimoski, 2020. "Some new insights on economic convergence and growth in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 863-884, November.
    13. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    14. Wesley Burnett, J. & Madariaga, Jessica, 2017. "The convergence of U.S. state-level energy intensity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 357-370.
    15. Nicole Madariaga & Sylvie Montout & Patrice Ollivaud, 2005. "Regional convergence and agglomeration in Argentina: a spatial panel data approach," Post-Print halshs-00193304, HAL.
    16. Alali, Walid Y., 2010. "Impact of Institutions and Policy on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 115610, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Cristian Incaltarau & Ilkhom Sharipov & Gabriela Carmen Pascariu & Teodor Lucian Moga, 2022. "Growth and convergence in Eastern Partnership and Central Asian countries since the dissolution of the USSR—embarking on different development paths?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(1), January.
    18. Hakan Yetkiner & Gamze Öztürk & Bahar Taş, 2024. "Consumption convergence: theory and evidence," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 619-643, August.
    19. Carlos Usabiaga & E. Macarena Hernández-Salmerón, 2016. "Regional Growth and Convergence in Spain: Is the Decentralization Model Important?," EcoMod2016 9358, EcoMod.
    20. Yerken Turganbayev, 2016. "Regional convergence in Kazakhstan," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(3), pages 314-334, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Convergence; Economic growth; Regional economics; Migration; Russia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • P25 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics

    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:ecosys:v:47:y:2023:i:4:s0939362523000626. 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: https://edirc.repec.org/data/osteide.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.