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The study aims to compare India's public health expenditure at the international and state levels. The paper also empirically examines the regional disparities in NRHM spending across the 21 selected states of India.

The tools of absolute β-and σ-convergence are used in the analysis to test the regional convergence. The average annual growth rate across the states is the dependent variable for β-convergence, and time is the second dependent variable but is used for s-convergence. In contrast, the initial value of NRHM expenditure and the coefficient of variation of NRHM expenditure are used as independent variables, respectively. Descriptive statistics are also used for the study. The data are annual and cover the panel from 2007 to 2020.

The study attests to the hypothesis of β-and σ-convergence for the selected states in the period mentioned. The observed convergence in NRHM expenditure is due to the shift in the government's attention from the non-high focus high focus states to high states through the national rural health mission policy. The coefficient of variation across the states also shows a declining trend and provides the robustness of the σ-convergence.

As far as the literature is concerned, none of the existing studies examines the convergence of a public health expenditure scheme like the National Rural Health Mission across the Indian states by applying the techniques of β-and σ-convergence. The novelty of the study is using the newly updated dataset and validating the convergence hypotheses in the National Rural Health Mission expenditure case.

This paper extends a methodology proposed by Nissanov and Silber (2009) who decomposed the coefficient β used in convergence analysis into three components checking respectively whether there was σ-convergence, whether ‘pure mobility’ (upward or downward income mobility) was lower among the poor and what the extent of ‘residual mobility’ (the third component) was.

The present paper extends this analysis by applying it to the analysis of regional per capita income levels but also to that of within regions inequality and regional welfare levels. The empirical illustration uses Portuguese data on average earnings at the level of NUTS3.

Measurement of diminishing or divergent cross section dispersion in a panel plays an important role in the assessment of convergence or divergence over time in key economic indicators. Econometric methods, known as weak σ-convergence tests, have recently been developed (Kong, Phillips, & Sul, 2019) to evaluate such trends in dispersion in panel data using simple linear trend regressions. To achieve generality in applications, these tests rely on heteroskedastic and autocorrelation consistent (HAC) variance estimates. The present chapter examines the behavior of these convergence tests when heteroskedastic and autocorrelation robust (HAR) variance estimates using fixed-b methods are employed instead of HAC estimates. Asymptotic theory for both HAC and HAR convergence tests is derived and numerical simulations are used to assess performance in null (no convergence) and alternative (convergence) cases. While the use of HAR statistics tends to reduce size distortion, as has been found in earlier analytic and numerical research, use of HAR estimates in nonparametric standardization leads to significant power differences asymptotically, which are reflected in finite sample performance in numerical exercises. The explanation is that weak σ-convergence tests rely on intentionally misspecified linear trend regression formulations of unknown trend decay functions that model convergence behavior rather than regressions with correctly specified trend decay functions. Some new results on the use of HAR inference with trending regressors are derived and an empirical application to assess diminishing variation in US State unemployment rates is included.

This paper investigates income convergence using different convergence concepts and methodologies for 72 countries over the period between 1960 and 2010.

This study applies beta (β), sigma (s), stochastic and club convergence approaches. For β-convergence analysis, it derives the cross-country growth regressions of the Solow growth model under the basic and augmented Cobb–Douglass (CD) production functions and estimates them using cross-section and panel data estimators. While it employs both the widely used coefficient of variation and recently developed weak s-convergence approaches for s-convergence, it applies three different unit root tests for stochastic convergence. To test club convergence, it estimates the log-t regression.

The results reveal that (1) there exists conditional β-convergence, meaning that poorer countries grow faster than richer countries; (2) income per worker is not (weakly) s-converging, and cross-sectional variation does not tend to fall over the years; (3) stochastic convergence is not found and (4) countries in the sample do not converge to the unique equilibrium, and there exist five distinctive convergence clubs.

The results clearly show that heavily relying on one of the convergence techniques might lead researchers to obtain misleading results regarding the existence of convergence. Therefore, to draw reliable inferences, the results should be checked using different convergence concepts and methodologies.

Contrary to the previous literature, which is generally restricted to testing the existence of absolute and conditional β-convergence between countries, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to consider and compare all originally and recently developed fundamental concepts of convergence altogether. Besides, it uses the Penn World Table (PWT) 9.1 and extends the period to 2010. From this point of view, this study is believed to provide the most up-to-date empirical evidence.

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the economic development of ASEAN countries during the period 2000-2014 (after the crisis) with the aim of detecting the convergence and divergence of trends over this period and of providing a framework that could be used for subsequent studies in the future.

Based on the models developed by Solow (1956) and Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1991), the authors estimate absolute and conditional β-convergence through OLS, pooled OLS and pooled OLS with time period effect. The absolute β-convergence can be modelled by the relationship between the log of the compound annual growth rate of GDP per capita (GDPC) (or per worker) and the initial level of GDPC (or per worker). The conditional β-convergence is modelled by the same relationship, supplemented by other factors potentially affecting the growth.

The findings indicate an average annual rate of σ-convergence per annum of approximately 1 per cent, and of 0.4-0.6 per cent for β-convergence, over the period 2000-2014. Compared to other macro-regions (e.g. the European Union), these rates of convergence among ASEAN countries are relatively low.

The ASEAN roadmap should address two interlinked challenges: the first one is to achieve coordination of the macroeconomic, institutional, legal and social policies within the area. The second one is to address the specific microeconomic drivers of each member state to achieve increased sustainable development.

This paper identifies the contradictory results found in previous studies on ASEAN convergence and attempts to clearly determine the optimal sample, sample time period and estimation approaches to obtain sound results regarding convergence processes.

The purpose of this paper is to test the extent of convergence in rents and yields in the European real estate office market.

The paper uses the concepts of beta‐convergence and sigma‐convergence to evaluate empirically the hypothesis of rent and yield convergence in seven European office markets during the period 1982‐2009. Because of the introduction of a single currency in January 1999, the analysis is carried out sequentially, first for the overall sample period and then the periods before and after the introduction of the single currency.

The results indicate that, irrespective of the time period considered, there is not enough statistical evidence of beta‐convergence in either rents or yields but evidence of significant sigma‐convergence in rents and yields in the European office markets under review. Additionally, some evidence is found that the introduction of the single currency in 1999 has led to increasing signs of convergence, especially in the Continental European markets.

The results show that the real estate office markets in Europe are not fully integrated and so indicate that diversification across Europe is still a viable investment strategy.

This is the first paper to use beta and sigma convergence tests on European office market data.

Agriculture diversification acts as income enhancing as well as distress mitigating strategy. India has witnessed rise in per-capita income which in turn has increased the demand for food particularly high-valued food items but agricultural production has failed to keep pace with the growing demand. The purpose of this paper is to examine spatio-temporal variations in agricultural diversification (AD) in India. Second, the authors try to identify the determinants of AD. Third, the authors examine the convergence hypothesis with reference to agriculture diversification across Indian states.

The study is based on the panel data constituting 20 major states of India during 1990–1991 to 2013–2014. It uses Simpson Diversification Index to measure AD. The heteroskedasticity-corrected panel regression model is applied to find out the determinants of AD. The fixed-effects model is used to examine β-convergence in AD across the sample states. Alternative time series models are applied to examine σ-convergence in AD.

The rising per-capita income and urbanization are driving dietary diversity towards high-valued crops and providing ample opportunity for AD. But poor and inadequate cold storage facility and rising cost of cultivation are posing major hindrance to it. Small land holding and road length have negatively influenced AD which is contrary to the traditional wisdom. The study found divergence in diversification and rising inequality in diversification.

The study is based on secondary data. A primary study to complement this could have been better. It is only based on one country.

Food inflation has serious adverse effect on the society at large. It is necessary to promote AD for controlling food price inflation. Minimum support price provided by the government should be extended to all crops; otherwise, it will fuel inflation. Given the fact fragmentation of land holding is adversely affecting AD, community based farming and consolidation of farm land should be the way forward to improve farmers’ income as well as reduce risk.

To best of the authors’ study, this is the first study that examines determinants of AD and convergence in AD during the high growth period of India.

This paper aims to examine the convergence in per-capita income (measured as per-capita net state domestic product) of regions in India during the period 1990–1991 to 2017–2018. Two separate analyses have also been done for the sub-periods, i.e., 1990–1991 to 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 to 2017–2018, to find out the effect of the second phase of economic liberalization in India.

In a panel data study, the estimation of absolute and conditional beta (β)-convergence and sigma (σ)-convergence across 17 Indian regions have been done. To measure the dispersion of per-capita income across the regions in India, the standard deviation of logs, Gini coefficient, Mehran measure, Piesch measure, Kakwani measure and Theil index have been estimated. In addition to this, these indices have been regressed over time.

This study finds the presence of absolute and conditional β-convergence; the regions with low initial per-capita income have grown faster than the regions with high initial per-capita income. Further, this study finds that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow and the availability of power enhance growth across regions. However, this study finds the presence of σ-divergence, which indicates that the economic inequality among the regions in India has widened over the periods, calling for policy interventions to promote growth in the backward regions through the promotion of FDI inflow and the availability of power.

This study highlights the rising economic inequality among the regions in India by analyzing the latest available data through appropriate econometric techniques.

Like the cross-country convergence or divergence analysis in incomes to address the global phenomenon, the same analysis is also required to be done in the case of a group of states within a national territory. Further, it is also required to see whether convergence or divergence in incomes of the states is attributable to the convergence or divergence in their allocations of bank credits. Thus, this chapter aims at examining whether the selected major states in India are converging or diverging in the allocations of bank credit, and if so, what will be the magnitudes of decreases or increases in the level of disparities and inequalities in credit allocations. This study concludes that there is a clear diverging tendency of credit allocations of the states of India during the post-reform period so far as the absolute convergence hypothesis of the neoclassical theory is concerned. Further, in terms of the framework of σ convergence, the study observes that all phases of the Indian economy have produced converging paths of the inter-state credit allocations, and the path becomes diverging during the post-reform phase. Based on the quantifications of the magnitudes of disparities and inequalities in terms of CV, C4 concentration, HHI and Gini values, this study thus reveals that there are significant increases in the levels of disparities and inequalities in the allocations of credit to the states from the pre-reform to the post-reform phases. Therefore, the persistence of divergence in income or rising income inequality during the phase of the major reform program in India may be due to the persistence of divergence and rising inequality in the allocation of bank credit.

The present study examines the initial working capital policy (WCP) and its evolution for newly established manufacturing firms.

Using panel data of 162 firms over a period of 10 years, the study analyses the persistence-cum-convergence in WCP over the subsequent years through descriptive analysis and difference of means test. Further, the prevalence of ß – convergence, and σ-convergence has been examined using standard least squares regression, dynamic panel analysis and the Wald test.

The results indicate that sample firms continue to follow the initial WCP in the subsequent years with a gradual convergence in the WCP. Alternatively, the firms with aggressive (conservative) WCP at the time of incorporation will continue following it. Further, the firms with aggressive initial WCP have witnessed higher growth than those with conservative initial WCP.

Findings will assist managers and practitioners to understand the dynamics of WCP over the life cycle of the firm and select appropriate WCP as certain policies lead to certain growth paths.

Though working capital management has been recognized as a critical managerial decision, limited research is available on its evolution, especially for newly established manufacturing companies in an emerging economy. Current research attempts to fill this gap and provide valuable insights for the effective management of liquidity.