Convergence hypothesis in a cross-section of economies

Although there are disputes among economists about the measurement of the speed at which the growth rates of different economies are approaching each other, there is no doubt that convergence has been a real world phenomenon. However, it would be naive to expect convergence across countries with substantial political, economic and institutional differences. The results of this paper have also confirmed the absence of empirical evidence in favor of gross (absolute) convergence in the cross sections of world economies at large (similar to what has been obtained by Barro and Sala-I-Martin). In contrast, while there was strong empirical evidence for convergence across OECD countries (an evidence for conditional convergence), the results for other regional and sub-regional economies have shown either divergence or have been unequivocal. Moreover, since the data for SSA are unreliable, the results should be interpreted with caution.