Regional Convergence in Colombia in the twenty-First Century
The series Documentos de Trabajo Sobre Economía Regional y Urbana is a publication of Banco de la República in Cartagena. The opinions contained in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not commit Banco de la República or its Board of Directors.
Abstract
The studies aiming to answer if wealthier areas in Colombia are growing at a slower pace than poorer areas have yielded mixed results. This chapter updates such estimates of unconditional beta convergence of the GDP per capita for the first years of the 21st century, when substantial changes occurred. Furthermore, we decompose the beta by sectorial changes throughout the period while estimating it with a moving starting year. This assessment was supplemented by a convergence analysis of additional social and economic indicators. Our results suggest an increasing, yet nonsignificant, beta, indicating that Colombia is moving from a subtle convergence to a more frequent period of divergence. Moreover, we find that the primer convergence forces from most of the period are mines and quarrying along with the public sector. In contrast, there is strong evidence of tax revenues per capita convergence and an apparent faster reduction of multidimensional poverty in wealthier areas in the last intercensal period.
