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Beyond income : convergence in living standards, big time

Neumayer, Eric ORCID: 0000-0003-2719-7563 (2003) Beyond income : convergence in living standards, big time. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 14 (3). pp. 275-296. ISSN 0954-349X

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Identification Number: 10.1016/S0954-349X(02)00047-4

Abstract

This article tests for convergence over the period 1960 to 1999 in a wide range of fundamental aspects of living standards, namely life expectancy, infant survival, educational enrolment, literacy as well as telephone and television availability. I argue that one should look at convergence in living standards, not in some achievement index. Various techniques are applied to test for convergence, including regression analysis, the coefficient of variation, kernel density estimates and transition probability matrices. I find strong evidence for convergence in the aspects of living standards mentioned above. This result stands in stark contrast to the conclusions of an article by Hobijn and Franses (2001), published in this journal. In suggesting divergence rather than convergence in living standards, Hobijn and Franses unduly deny one of the great success stories of development in the last century.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/sced
Additional Information: Published 2003 © Elsevier Science B.V. LSE has developed LSE Research Online so that users may access research output of the School. Copyright and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may download and/or print one copy of any article(s) in LSE Research Online to facilitate their private study or for non-commercial research. You may not engage in further distribution of the material or use it for any profit-making activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute the URL (<http://eprints.lse.ac.uk>) of the LSE Research Online website.
Divisions: Geography & Environment
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date Deposited: 23 May 2006
Last Modified: 13 Feb 2024 00:08
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/623

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