Developments in the Convergence and Determinants of Growth and Productivity

The Nottingham University Business School China and Zhongnan University of Economics & Law will host a workshop on the above topic on 27-28 September 2023. The workshop will be organised as a hybrid event both in-person and online and will take place at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, in Ningbo. More details will be available on the workshop website. Following the workshop, a Special Issue of Open Economies Review will publish a selection of papers presented at the workshop in early 2024. The journal invites theoretical and empirical papers on the workshop theme to be included in this Special Issue.

Subject:

The meaning and measurement of growth convergence was revisited recently at a NBER forum where Kremer et al (2021) found that the previous findings of non-convergence had been reversed, and that since 1990 there has been a tendency towards unconditional convergence. This finding has sparked a debate on the methodology of measuring convergence. Barro (2015) highlights that country fixed effects probably over-estimates convergence in short-span data, but fixed effects is probably right in long-span data. Acemoglu and Molina (2022) argue that a causal framework should include country fixed effects and allow for institutional and economic heterogeneity. The issue of unconditional or conditional convergence speaks to whether the fundamentals of growth are complemented with variable drivers of institutions, culture, government policy, and human capital development.  The Special Issue will examine the big picture of growth convergence and its drivers, but also the micro picture of industries and firms operating within a common market and regulatory framework.

Topics 

(include–but are not limited to):

• Demography, population growth, taxation, and fiscal policy

• Saving and investment

• Quality of institutions - rule of law, openness to markets

• Openness - International Trade; Foreign Direct Investment; Decentralisation

• Endogenous growth models, technological advances, digitisation, and microeconomic studies:

• Econometric issues related to estimating growth, convergence, and drivers of growth

• Micro-studies of industries operating in a common regulatory framework and single currency

SuSubmission procedure：

Please submit your completed paper or extended abstract by email attachment to both Bruno Deschamps (Bruno.DESCHAMPS@nottingham.edu.cn) and Kent Matthews (matthewsk@cardiff.ac.uk). The submission deadline for the workshop is 30 June 2023. Participants will be informed of acceptance by 31 July 2023. The deadline for submission for the Special Issue is 30 November. After a standard – but accelerated – refereeing process, decisions will be made by 31 January 2024 and invited revisions will be due by 31 March 2024.