Convergencia entre distritos argentinos: un enfoque de econometría espacial

In this paper, we examine the existence of absolute and conditional beta-convergence in per capita income across departments over a period spanning more than two decades (1992-2013). Unlike most previous studies on the topic, we relax the assumption of independence between observations and allow for the presence of spatial dependence in both static and dynamic models, using per capita luminosity data as a proxy for average income. The results provide robust evidence of a conditional convergence process over the period studied. Specifically, even when accounting for spatial effects, departments with lower levels of per capita income experience a higher rate of economic growth. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating spatial effects into the analysis. The positive and significant overall spatial effect indicates that the economic trajectory of a department is significantly influenced by the trajectory of its neighbours. Finally, spatial spillover effects slow down the convergence process for the entire period under study, with temporal dynamics varying between subperiods: spatial effects tend to delay convergence from 1992 to 2002, while they accelerate it from 2002 to 2013.