IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jouinf/v11y2019i1-2p121-135.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is There Cross-Country Income Convergence Among the BRICS Nations? An Examination

Author

Listed:
  • Ramesh Chandra Das

Abstract

Narrowing the developmental gaps of a relatively poor country with a relatively rich one is one of the priorities to the policymakers of the former. One way to reduce the developmental gaps is making different countries in a group to converge to a single steady-state value. Under this background, this study aims to examine whether the BRICS nations are converging in per capita GDP for the period 1990–2016. Applying the neoclassical methodology of β convergence and σ convergence, the study observes that the countries are not unconditionally β converging but converging in conditional terms with the variables such as foreign direct investment (FDI) flow and working population acting as the deciding factor. Furthermore, the study shows that the countries are converging in σ definition meaning the cross-country dispersion in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen significantly. Hence, formation of BRICS has made the countries relatively better off compared to pre-BRICS phase. JEL Classification: E01, O4, J21

Suggested Citation

  • Ramesh Chandra Das, 2019. "Is There Cross-Country Income Convergence Among the BRICS Nations? An Examination," Journal of Infrastructure Development, India Development Foundation, vol. 11(1-2), pages 121-135, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:jouinf:v:11:y:2019:i:1-2:p:121-135
    DOI: 10.1177/0974930619880440
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0974930619880440
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0974930619880440?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. Magdalena Morgese Borys & Éva Katalin Polgár & Andrei Zlate, 2008. "Real convergence and the determinants of growth in EU candidate and potential candidate countries - a panel data approach," Occasional Paper Series 86, European Central Bank.
    2. Rodrik, Dani, 2011. "The Future of Convergence," Scholarly Articles 5131504, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    3. 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.
    4. Barro, Robert J & Sala-i-Martin, Xavier, 1997. "Technological Diffusion, Convergence, and Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, March.
    5. Dani Rodrik, 2011. "The future of economic convergence," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 13-52.
    6. Fischer, Manfred M. & Stirböck, Claudia, 2004. "Regional Income Convergence in the Enlarged Europe, 1995-2000: A Spatial Econometric Perspective," ZEW Discussion Papers 04-42, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Hu, Linlin & Liu, Yuanli & Mahal, Ajay & Yip, Winnie, 2010. "The contribution of population health and demographic change to economic growth in China and India," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 17-33, March.
    8. Friedman, Milton, 1992. "Do Old Fallacies Ever Die?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 2129-2132, December.
    9. Vatthanamixay Chansomphou & Masaru Ichihashi, 2013. "Structural change, labor productivity growth, and convergence of BRIC countries," IDEC DP2 Series 3-5, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).
    10. Morgese Borys, Magdalena & Polgár, Éva Katalin & Zlate, Andrei, 2008. "Real convergence and the determinants of growth in EU candidate and potential candidate countries: a panel data approach," Occasional Paper Series 86, European Central Bank.
    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. Ramesh Chandra Das & Utpal Das & Amaresh Das, 2021. "BRICS Nations and Income Convergence: An Insight from the Quarterly Data for 2006Q1–2017Q2," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 22(4), pages 1054-1069, August.
    2. Baarsch, Florent & Granadillos, Jessie R. & Hare, William & Knaus, Maria & Krapp, Mario & Schaeffer, Michiel & Lotze-Campen, Hermann, 2020. "The impact of climate change on incomes and convergence in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Deeptha Wijerathna & Jayatilleke S. Bandara & Christine Smith & Athula Naranpanawa, 2014. "Regional disparities in Sri Lanka: an empirical analysis," Asia-Pacific Development Journal, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), vol. 21(2), pages 77-102, December.
    4. Paul Johnson & Chris Papageorgiou, 2020. "What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 129-175, March.
    5. Ghatak, Subrata & Guresci-Pehlivan, Gulcin & Utkulu, Utku, 2011. "Convergence in an Enlarged Europe: The Turkish Case," Economics Discussion Papers 2011-3, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    6. Dazhong Cheng & Jian Wang & Zhiguo Xiao, 2021. "Global value chain and growth convergence: Applied especially to China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 161-182, May.
    7. Michele Battisti & Massimo Del Gatto & Christopher F. Parmeter, 2018. "Labor productivity growth: disentangling technology and capital accumulation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 111-143, March.
    8. Perilla Jimenez, Juan, 2022. "Income per-capita across-countries," MERIT Working Papers 2022-033, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    9. Melanie Krause & Stefan Szymanski, 2019. "Convergence versus the middle-income trap: the case of global soccer," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(27), pages 2980-2999, June.
    10. Nicolas Taconet & Aurélie Méjean & Céline Guivarch, 2020. "Influence of climate change impacts and mitigation costs on inequality between countries," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 15-34, May.
    11. Bruno, Giuseppe & De Bonis, Riccardo & Silvestrini, Andrea, 2012. "Do financial systems converge? New evidence from financial assets in OECD countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 141-155.
    12. Nassif, André & Morandi, Lucilene & Araújo, Eliane & Feijó, Carmem, 2020. "Economic development and stagnation in Brazil (1950–2011)," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-15.
    13. Bove, Vincenzo & Gokmen, Gunes, 2020. "Cultural distance and income divergence over time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    14. de Vries, Gaaitzen J. & Erumban, Abdul A. & Timmer, Marcel P. & Voskoboynikov, Ilya & Wu, Harry X., 2012. "Deconstructing the BRICs: Structural transformation and aggregate productivity growth," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 211-227.
    15. Francesco Lamperti & Clara Elisabetta Mattei, 2016. "Going Up and Down: Rethinking the Empirics of Growth in the Developing and Newly Industrialized World," LEM Papers Series 2016/01, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    16. Kym Anderson & Anna Strutt, 2012. "Agriculture and Food Security in Asia by 2030," Macroeconomics Working Papers 23309, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    17. Orszaghova, Lucia & Savelin, Li & Schudel, Willem, 2013. "External competitiveness of EU candidate countries," Occasional Paper Series 141, European Central Bank.
    18. Haupt, Harry & Schnurbus, Joachim & Semmler, Willi, 2018. "Estimation of grouped, time-varying convergence in economic growth," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 8(C), pages 141-158.
    19. repec:dgr:rugggd:gd-121 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Xanthippi Chapsa & Athanasios L. Athanasenas & Nikolaos Tabakis, 2019. "Real Convergence in EU-15: A Comparative Analysis of North versus South Europe," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 3-21.
    21. Guohua Feng & Jiti Gao & Bin Peng, 2021. "Productivity Convergence in Manufacturing: A Hierarchical Panel Data Approach," Monash Econometrics and Business Statistics Working Papers 16/21, Monash University, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Per capita GDP; β convergence; σ convergence; BRICS; FDI; working population;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

    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:sae:jouinf:v:11:y:2019:i:1-2:p:121-135. 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://www.idfresearch.org .

    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.