I suggest a concept of convergence stronger than [sigma]-convergence. This concept, [rho]-convergence, is equivalent to [beta]-divergence in reverse time and implies bounds for convergence speed of merely [sigma]-convergent economies. Empirically, the [rho]-concept detects divergence earlier...

Order criteria for identifying restrictions in SVECMs are derived. With K - r common trends, K - r columns of the long run matrix may have at most K - r - 1 zero restrictions each, while r columns may have arbitrarily many. For each shock, the number of restrictions must...