Convergence of GDP per capita in advanced countries over the twentieth century

Antonin Bergeaud (1) , Gilbert Cette (1, 2) , Rémy Lecat (1)

1 Banque de France - Banque de France
2 AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques

This study compares GDP per capita levels and growth rates across 17 advanced economies over the period 1890–2013 using an accounting breakdown and runs Phillips and Sul (Econometrica 75(6):1771–1855, 2007) convergence tests. An overall convergence process has been at work among advanced economies, mainly after WWII, driven mostly by capital intensity and then TFP, while trends in hours worked and employment rates are disparate. However, this convergence process came to a halt during technology shocks, during the two world wars and since the 1990s, with the convergence of advanced economies stopping far from the level of US GDP per capita.

Keywords: GDP per capita; Productivity; Convergence; Technological change; Global history

Domains: Humanities and Social Sciences; Economics and Finance

Antonin Bergeaud, Gilbert Cette, Rémy Lecat. Convergence of GDP per capita in advanced countries over the twentieth century. Empirical Economics, 2020, 59 (5), pp.2509-2526. ⟨10.1007/s00181-019-01761-x⟩. ⟨hal-03032059⟩