Testing the Club Convergence among Iran’s Provinces: New Evidences Using non-Parametric Analysis

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Associated Professor, Economic Faculty, University of Mazandaran, Iran.

2 Foreign Trade Expert, Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, Iran.

Abstract

In this paper, the formation of club convergence among real per capita GDP of Iran’s provinces is tests through use of non-parametric quantile regression and distribution dynamics approach. The results show two convergence clubs are forming among provinces and most of them are converging toward poor club. Also, calculation of convergence speed shows that there is a vast difference among economic growth patterns of Iran provinces, so the catching up of poor provinces toward rich club need to 20-60 years.

Keywords