Types and methods of measuring income convergence

Abstract

Income convergence is one of the key research domains in the field of economic growth and development. The theoretical discussion of income convergence among countries began with the introduction of Robert Solow’s neoclassical growth model. The first empirical research appeared in the 1980s, and to this day the results are ambiguous. There are several approaches of convergence, however, the most commonly used approach is income convergence between countries and regions. When it comes to income convergence, there are two concepts, namely σ-convergence and β-convergence, where β-convergence can be absolute and relative. The paper presents different types of convergence, as well as methods of measuring income convergence