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“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.

Forestry is an integral part of an economy. It not only maintains the balance of the ecosystem but provides sustainable livelihood to the forest-fringe dwellers, apart from being a huge source of revenue for the government. Hence, proper management of the forest resources is an important concern for the economists. On the other hand, convergence of natural resources is one of the hot cakes of discussion for the economists. In this study, the authors have considered three forest regions of West Bengal; these three being the largest forest areas hold an important position in West Bengal’s economy. Here, the authors have considered the whole of dryland forestry that covers the arid and semi-arid districts of western part of the state. They have also considered the forestry of Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts that cover the sub-Himalayan forestry of North Bengal and mangrove forestry of South 24 Parganas district. The authors have used time-series data for the time period 1980–2019 and performed the Absolute Beta Convergence and Sigma Convergence Analysis as well as Conditional Beta Convergence of the total forest products of these three regions. In this study, the authors have found the existence of both forms of beta convergence but for variations, a divergence has been observed. The authors have also used the data from 2000 to 2019 on various aspects of income from forestry and performed the three forms of tests, like that of total forest products and observed similar type of results, that is, beta convergence of both forms but sigma divergence. The findings of this study ask for serious steps by the government bodies, since the decreasing rates are the causes of worries.

The investment development path of emerging markets’ MNEs is significantly different from the developed (TRIAD) world’s MNEs; BRIC MNEs seem to have taken a different trajectory on account of various political and economic reasons, ranging from the ‘forms of entry’ to ‘country-specific advantages’ (Tulder, R. V. (2010). Toward a renewed stages theory for BRIC multinational enterprises? A home country bargaining approach. In K. P. Sauvant, G. McAllister, & W. A. Maschek (Eds.), Foreign direct investments from emerging markets: The challenges ahead (pp. 61–74). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan). Yet, some believe that in the long run the internationalization strategy of the developed world MNEs and BRIC MNEs will converge. Internationalization strategies as measured by OFDI depend on various macroeconomic determinants such as income, interest rate, openness of the economy, etc. The chapter intend to highlight, the significant difference between these two groups of countries on account of diverse political reforms towards internalization of firms, yet see if these different countries might converge.

Regression analysis examines the significance of the role of home government by testing the effect of governance indicators; that is voice and accountability, on OFDI. It further, tests for convergence of internationalization strategies of the two historically divergent groups, also, it tests convergence amongst the BRIC nations. Along with forecasting, time series analysis is also employed to examine convergence using univariate sigma convergence techniques.

Impact of voice and accountability is significant but it hinders OFDI for BRIC nations, while it promotes OFDI for TRIAD & ALL. Moreover, the analysis found the existence of convergence, that is BRIC will catch up with TRIAD, but though convergence exists amongst BRIC if we take a long span of time (45 years), it is absent in short span of time (19 years), as lately BRIC have shown divergent tendency.

Small sample size in multivariate regression analysis. Also, the governance indicator, that is voice and accountability, is perception based, and missing gaps in data for governance indicator is filled using interpolation.

Empirically testing the convergence of BRIC nations with the developed world. A univariate time series analysis is undertaken to understand each country’s heterogeneous FDI outflows and to address the research gap in existing forecasting literature. In addition, the comparison specifically between the Emerging Market Economies, that is the BRIC nations and the developed world gives some useful insights. This chapter ascertains the impact of governance indicator on OFDI; empirical literature shows such analysis for IFDI & FDI, but OFDI is rarely been dealt with.

The world has witnessed rapid changes as far as growth and convergence of economies are concerned. Over the past decades, many less-developed or developing economies have been catching up with the industrialized economies; a few have even surpassed them, as far as growth is concerned. Also there have seen emergence of new economic powers in the world, where growth rates of these upcoming economies have not only converged with that of developed economies, but have gone ahead of them as well. In this chapter, by the help of beta convergence and sigma convergence, an attempt has been taken to find out the nature and causes of convergence among few developed and developing economies in the last three decades, that is, after 1990, which also covers the period of post-globalization in these developing nations. Main concerned variables are Per-capita GDP, Life expectancy at birth and Foreign Direct Investment. Such analysis would help to find how far globalization has been effective or helpful to the developing economies, as far as catching up with developed economies is concerned. The results suggest that in the post-globalization era, nations have been converging both absolutely as well as conditionally and the variance is also diminishing, which indicates the presence of sigma convergence as well.

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.

The global financial crisis of 2007/2008 interrupted the process of financial integration observed in the European Union since the beginning of the 2000s. This paper empirically analyzes whether financial integration resumed, focusing on the period 2002–2015 and employing the indicators of the speed and the level of integration. The analysis covers four financial markets (the money, foreign exchange, bond, and equity markets) of the selected inflation-targeting Central European economies (the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland), representatives of new euro area countries (Slovenia and Slovakia) and the selected advanced Western European economies (Austria, Germany, Portugal) with the euro area. The results reveal that the global financial crisis caused mainly a temporary price divergence of the financial markets in the analyzed countries vis-à-vis the euro area. By 2015 the situation on the financial markets returned gradually to the pre-crisis degree of integration with the euro area for most of the countries and markets; however, there are signs of fragmentation on the government bond markets.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the empirical dimension of financial integration among the five newest members of the European Monetary Union (Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia) and the euro area. The main objective is to study the level and the speed of integration between the stock markets of those European Union (EU) member states and the rest of the euro area, assessing in this way the role that the EU enlargement, the drive towards European Monetary Union and the actual adoption of the euro play in the process of European financial market integration.

This study will exclusively test the integration of the stock markets of EU member states that joined in 2004, when the EU expanded, but are already members of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Since there is limited evidence on the effects of EU and EMU enlargements or their announcements, it will be a useful addition to the examination of this issue. Given the small size of those emerging stock markets and the fact that they are part of a stable and well-regulated system, the degree to which they are integrated has implications for investors' portfolio allocation decisions, as they may offer diversification benefits without extreme risks. The case of integration will be examined using various econometric methodologies, two of which (beta- and sigma-convergence) have been given less formal attention and their application is rare, so as to detect both long- and short-run interdependencies and achieve robust results.

The findings indicate an increasing degree of integration for Malta and Slovenia, while Estonia appears segmented. Cyprus and Slovakia exhibited a degree of integration after their accession into EU but this trend changes after they adopted the euro. Overall, the integration process accelerated after the accession in the EU but EMU does not seem to have the same positive impact on it.

Compared with previous studies, the authors' apply the concept of beta- and sigma-convergence, a methodology that will help us identify the speed of integration. Moreover, the period under study includes the recent crisis: this allows us to see if the worsened economic environment has had effect on the level and speed of integration of the countries under study. In the end, it is worth noting that previous studies focused on either advanced markets or neighbouring countries or states with a common history. This alone can create a level of interdependence between the countries under study and bias the results. In this paper, the markets under study have almost nothing in common except their small size and the fact that they are members of the EMU.

This paper investigates the impact of intellectual capital and its components on slack-based technical efficiency (SBM-TE) of banks.

Data envelopment analysis is used to compute SBM-TE scores and the Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) model is used to measure intellectual capital. An unbalanced panel of 32 banks that operated from 2000 to 2017 has been used.

Overall, the efficiency scores are averaged at 79%, suggesting that an inefficient bank needs to enhance technical efficiency by 21% to be at par with the best performing banks. Beta-convergence and sigma-convergence exist among banks with faster speed evident among listed and local banks. Intellectual capital has a positive impact on SBM-TE and human capital is the main driver of technical efficiency among banks. This result is specifically evident among non-listed banks and foreign banks. Economies of scale property are also evident among the banks. Competition and asset tangibility inhibit technical efficiency among banks.

Banks are advised to invest in value-adding emerging technologies and their employees so as to enhance their efficiency. The study offers insights for policymakers, practitioners and researchers in emerging markets.

The study is premier in employing the SBM-TE to explain the intellectual capital and efficiency nexus, as well as, testing for both beta-convergence and sigma-convergence.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants and convergence of government effectiveness in African and Asian countries.

The study utilizes data from 100 countries in Africa and Asia from 2002 to 2018. The panel-corrected standard error regression is used for the regression analysis, while both beta-convergence and sigma-convergence among the countries are tested.

Both beta-convergence and sigma-convergence exist among African and Asian countries. Asia performs better than Africa across all indicators except for press freedom, and voice and accountability. Corruption perception index, government size, voice and accountability, regulatory quality and economic wealth have a significant positive effect on government effectiveness. Press freedom negatively impacts on government effectiveness, suggesting that freedom is necessary but not sufficient if there are political actors whose actions undermine freedom. Similarly, the political constraint index, as reflected by checks and balances are necessary but not sufficient to enhance government effectiveness, especially in Asia.

The results reveal that for press freedom and political checks and balances to enhance government effectiveness, there is a need for a different and holistic approach. The results are relevant for policymakers, public sector practitioners and academics.

This study utilizes a new dataset and is premier in exploring the convergence of government effectiveness among African and Asian countries.

With the growth of income at the global level, the World Bank data show that there are rising levels of income disparity across countries, groups, regions and within the countries. This fact otherwise hints at the inter-country divergence in incomes, particularly between the developed and developing countries of the world. This chapter, therefore, attempts to examine the convergence or divergence in credit, GDP and HDI across the 10 selected countries for the period of 1990–2019 applying the neoclassical growth approach and the time series approach. The results of the exercise in line with the neoclassical theories on absolute convergence and sigma convergence show that the countries are unquestionably converging in GDP and HDI with mixed results in case of credit. The results of convergence in GDP and HDI in all the countries and their developed and developing counterparts provide a possible explanation as to why the cross countries’ income inequalities as well as world inequality in income and development are reducing over time. On the other hand, the results of the time series approach display that credit and HDI are converging in both absolute and conditional terms but the countries are converging in conditional terms only for GDP. Thus, the claims of the World Bank are not valid for the selected countries in the chapter, rather, they can be verified by taking other countries and groups into consideration.