Testing the Convergence Clubs Hypothesis among MENA Countries

Abstract

T

his paper is to study the convergence of per capita income. Convergence clubs hypothesis is one of the forms of convergence hypotheses, implying that countries with the same initial level of economic development, technology, and government policies, tend to be similar in per capita income and thus have a tendency to cluster around a small number of poles. In order to test the hypothesis of the formation of the convergence clubs among 15 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries for the period of 1990–2015, we used a non-parametric analysis (distribution dynamics approach). The distribution dynamics of real per capita GDP showed that “twin peaks" were being formed in the MENA region.