IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/amerec/v59y2014i1p70-75.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power Laws and Regional Convergence

Author

Listed:
  • Calvin Blackwell
  • Frank Hefner
  • Emily Lindberg

Abstract

Classical economic growth theory suggests that regions will converge. Using data from 198 countries, we test the convergence hypothesis by investigating whether GDP, per capita GDP, and population follow a power law distribution. We are unable to reject the hypothesis that these variables follow a power law distribution. Our research supports the hypothesis of random growth, which is consistent with both log normal and power law distributions.

Suggested Citation

  • Calvin Blackwell & Frank Hefner & Emily Lindberg, 2014. "Power Laws and Regional Convergence," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 59(1), pages 70-75, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:59:y:2014:i:1:p:70-75
    DOI: 10.1177/056943451405900106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/056943451405900106
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/056943451405900106?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 1998. "Slow Convergence? The New Endogenous Growth Theory and Regional Development," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 74(3), pages 201-227, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Siyu & Shi, Yi & Chen, Qinghua & Li, Xiaomeng, 2022. "The growth path of high-tech industries: Statistical laws and evolution demands," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 603(C).

    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. Don J. Webber & Min-Hua Jen & Eoin O'Leary, 2014. "Regional productivity in a multi-speed Europe," Working Papers 20141408, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    2. Boiscuvier, Éléonore, 2001. "Innovation, intégration et développement régional," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 77(2), pages 255-280, juin.
    3. Zietz, Joachim A. & Penn, David A., 2008. "An Unobserved Components Forecasting Model of Non-Farm Employment for the Nashville MSA," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 38(1), pages 1-10.
    4. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, 2010. "Entrepreneurial Culture, Regional Innovativeness and Economic Growth," Springer Books, in: Andreas Freytag & Roy Thurik (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Culture, chapter 0, pages 129-154, Springer.
    5. WA Naudéa, 2001. "Shipping Costs And South Africa'S Export Potential: An Econometric Analysis1," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 69(1), pages 123-146, March.
    6. Theodor F. Cojoianu & Andreas G. F. Hoepner & Xi Hu & Moustafa Ramadan & Paolo Veneri & Dariusz Wójcik, 2024. "Are cities venturing green? A global analysis of the impact of green entrepreneurship on city air pollution," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 523-540, February.
    7. Mendieta Muñoz, Rodrigo & Pontarollo, Nicola, 2015. "Cantonal Convergence in Ecuador: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," MPRA Paper 68399, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ellen R. McGrattan, 1998. "A defense of AK growth models," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 22(Fall), pages 13-27.
    9. Giorgio Fazio & Davide Piacentino & Erasmo Vassallo, 2006. "Regional Disparities and Public Policies in Italy: Some Considerations in Light of a Performance Analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa06p439, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Francesco Guala & Andrea Salanti, 2002. "Model-robustness in ‘old’ and ‘new’ growth theory," Working Papers (-2012) 0201, University of Bergamo, Department of Economics.
    11. Sjoerd Beugelsdijk & Ton Van Schaik, 2005. "Differences in social capital between 54 Western European regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(8), pages 1053-1064.
    12. Mario Polèse & Richard Shearmur, 2006. "Growth and Location of Economic Activity: The Spatial Dynamics of Industries in Canada 1971–2001," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 362-395, September.
    13. Eunice Omolola Olaniyi & Marti Viirmäe, 2016. "The Economic Impact of Environmental Regulations on a Maritime Fuel Production Company," Research in Economics and Business: Central and Eastern Europe, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, vol. 8(2).
    14. Paul Plummer & Michael Taylor, 2003. "Theory and Praxis in Economic Geography: ‘Enterprising’ and Local Growth in a Global Economy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 21(5), pages 633-649, October.
    15. Michael Storper, 2018. "Separate Worlds? Explaining the current wave of regional economic polarization," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 247-270.
    16. Chaolin Gu & Jianfa Shen & Kwan-Yiu Wong & Feng Zhen, 2001. "Regional Polarization under the Socialist-Market System since 1978: A Case Study of Guangdong Province in South China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(1), pages 97-119, January.
    17. Aritenang, Adiwan F., 2008. "A Study on Indonesia Regions Disparity: Post Decentralization," MPRA Paper 25245, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Aug 2010.
    18. Simon X. B. Zhao & David W. H. Wong & David W. S. Wong & Y. P. Jiang, 2020. "Ever‐transient FDI and ever‐polarizing regional development: Revisiting conventional theories of regional development in the context of China, Southeast and South Asia," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 338-361, March.
    19. Jiao, Jingjuan & Zhao, Hongyu & Lyu, Guowei, 2024. "How does high-speed rail affect off-site investments? Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    20. Anil Rupasingha & Stephan J. Goetz & David Freshwater, 2002. "Social and institutional factors as determinants of economic growth: Evidence from the United States counties," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(2), pages 139-155.

    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:sae:amerec:v:59:y:2014:i:1:p:70-75. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://journals.sagepub.com/home/aex .

    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.