This paper reviews the empirical literature on growth and convergence that has addressed the importance of spatial …

The topic of convergence is at the heart of a wide-ranging debate in the growth literature. Empirical studies of … convergence differ widely in their theoretical backgrounds, empirical specifications and in their treatment of cross …-sectional heterogeneity. Despite these differences, a rate of convergence of about 2% has been found under a variety of different conditions …

simulation experiments(over a 20-year period) to quantify the importance of convergence, household fixed effectsand shocks. First …, we find powerful convergence. In the absence of shocks and withouthousehold fixed effects there is rapid growth over the …