In this paper we outline (i) why sigma-convergence may not accompany beta-convergence, (ii) discuss evidence of beta-convergence in the U.S., and (iii) use U.S. county-level data containing over 3,000 cross-sectional observations to demonstrate that sigma-convergence has not occurred at the...

In this paper we outline (i) why sigma-convergence may not accompany beta-convergence, (ii) discuss evidence of beta-convergence in the U.S., and (iii) use U.S. county-level data containing over 3,000 cross-sectional observations to demonstrate that sigma-convergence cannot be detected at the...

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht, welchen Beitrag die sogenannten Konvergenzregressionen einerseits und die Schätzungen von Markov-Ketten andererseits zur Klärung der Frage leisten können, ob die regionalen Pro-Kopf-Einkommen in Westdeutschland seit Mitte der siebziger Jahre konvergiert oder...

This paper considers a functional-coefficient spatial Durbin model with nonparametric spatial weights. Applying the series approximation method, we estimate the unknown functional coefficients and spatial weighting functions via a nonparametric two-stage least squares (or 2SLS) estimation...