Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

Regional convergence and spatial dependence in Thailand: Global and local assessments

Thursday, Mar 3, 2022 by Katikar Tipayalai and Carlos Mendez Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

This article studies the evolution of per-capita income disparities and spatial dependence across 77 provinces of Thailand over the period 1995–2017. Results show that – on average – regional income disparities are decreasing over time and initially poor provinces are catching up with rich provinces, indicating the presence of sigma and beta convergence. However, when we study the evolution of disparities – beyond the average – we reject the hypothesis that all provinces would eventually converge to a common long-run equilibrium.

Regional Income Disparities and Convergence Clubs in Indonesia: New District-Level Evidence

Monday, Jan 11, 2021 by Harry Aginta, Anang Gunawan, Carlos Mendez Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

This paper aims to re-examine the regional convergence hypothesis on income in Indonesia over the 2000-2017 period. By applying a non-linear dynamic factor model, this paper tests the club convergence hypothesis using a novel dataset of income at the district level. The results show significant five convergence clubs in Indonesian districts' income dynamics, implying the persistence of income disparity problems across districts even after implementing the decentralization policy. The subsequent analysis reveals two appealing features regarding the convergence clubs.