An essay upon testing economic convergence hypothesis with time series panel unit root methods for the OECD countries

Abstract

In this paper the convergence hypothesis based on the neo-classical growth theory is tried to be re-examined by using per capita real income data of 26 OECD countries. Considering some contemporaneous panel unit root tests for the 1970 – 2007 sample period, the main findings obtained indicate that we are unable to reject that the per capita real income levels of OECD countries converge to the USA per capita real income level, chosen as the benchmark country. However, when the convergence of per capita real income levels of OECD countries to the average of OECD per capita real income level is considered, the panel unit root null hypothesis is seen to be supported by the actual data.Income Level Convergence; Panel Unit Root Tests; OECD Economies;