Convergence Clubs in Labor Productivity and its Proximate Sources

Carlos Mendez is an associate professor of development economics at the Graduate School of International Development (GSID) in Nagoya University, Japan.  He is also the founder and director of the Quantitative Regional and Computational Science Lab (QuaRCS-lab). He has worked as a consultant for Pro-Mujer International, The World Bank, DANIDA, and JICA. He holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in international development from Nagoya University. His research interests focus on the integration of econometrics, spatial data science, and machine learning methods to understand and inform the process of economic growth and development. In particular, his current research is in (1) the quantitative geography of development and inequality; (2) economic growth and convergence; (3) regional labor market outcomes and macroeconomic shocks; and (4) structural change and firm productivity dynamics.

• 1 Introduction.- 2 The Data: Productivity and Capital Differences across Countries and over Time.- 3 Two Complementary Frameworks to Study Convergence Clubs.- 4 Convergence Clubs in Labor Productivity.- 5 Convergence Clubs in Physical and Human Capital.- 6 Convergence Clubs in Total Factor Productivity.- 7 Accounting for Convergence Clubs.- 8 Conclusion.