Weighted convergence and regional growth in China: an alternative approach (1952–2008)

Abstract

This paper analyses the convergence behaviour of labour productivity, capital intensity and TFP across 28 Chinese regions from 1952 to 2008 by using the dynamics of the distribution approach. Unlike other works, we take into account the population and economic size of each region in the analysis as well as the spatial dimension in the convergence process. Our results indicate that un-weighted analysis provide a limited information of the convergence behaviour, since the weighted analysis matter in that process. Besides, although the multimodality prevails in all the analysis made, we find that convergence in labour productivity is mainly driven by capital intensity. In addition, it is also observed two distinctive clubs in the distribution of TFP that may account for the different speed of regional development in China. These results suggest the need to promote further economic policies in the Chinese economy.