This paper examines the catching-up process of sub-Saharan African countries. For that purpose, it investigates whether sub-Saharan African countries have shown a change in trend in their per capita GDP and whether these countries are closing the gap with developed economies, taking as reference the long-run per capita income growth rate of the USA. To test for changes in the level or in the trend, we use the algorithm developed by Kejriwal and Perron (
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This paper studies the catching up process in per capita income of the so-called Asian Dragons and Tigers. It contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it tests the catching up hypothesis using the longest time span ever considered, from 1870 to 2014. Second, it documents the experiences of these two groups of countries and provides potential explanations for them. Third, the analysis of the paper uses the Kejriwal and Perron (J Time Ser Anal 31:305-328, 2010) algorithm which allows us to endogenously estimate multiple structural breaks in the level and the trend of the series without prior knowledge of their integration level. This surpasses technical concerns of previous empirical studies. Fourth, it inquiries into how the Asian financial crisis affected the catching up process among the Dragons and Tigers economies.
KeywordsCatching up • Structural breaks • Asian Dragons • Asian Tigers JEL Classification C22 • O11 • O55 B Olesia Kozlova
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