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Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country

Received: 19 September 2021    Accepted: 13 October 2021    Published: 28 October 2021
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Abstract

The issue of economic convergence has been widely analyzed by the researchers. Convergence hypothesis has been tested at different levels - global, national, regional and local. This paper is analyzing local economic convergence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in last three decades. In this period the country was facing twofold transition: from war to peace and from socialism to market economy. The regression and distributional approach to convergence analysis are combined. The first hypothesis research is testing is that poor municipalities grow faster comparing to rich municipalities – unconditional beta convergence. Second hypothesis is that dispersion of local per capita GDP decreases over time – sigma convergence. To further investigate the issue and check the changes in the distribution, several visual inspection instruments were also used. The research findings are inconclusive. While regression analysis provides some evidence for unconditional beta-convergence, in a case of sigma convergence, results are mixed. This is related to significant structural changes country went through, firmly confirmed with the transitional probability matrix data. Findings confirm the necessity for combining different approaches and instruments while analysing convergence. From the specific country perspective, research results can be used as a strong argument for the necessity of new more balanced regional development policy.

Published in International Journal of Business and Economics Research (Volume 10, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15
Page(s) 203-208
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Beta and Sigma Convergence, Local Government, Bosnia and Herzegovina

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Muamer Halilbasic, Emir Agic. (2021). Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 10(5), 203-208. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15

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    ACS Style

    Muamer Halilbasic; Emir Agic. Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country. Int. J. Bus. Econ. Res. 2021, 10(5), 203-208. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15

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    AMA Style

    Muamer Halilbasic, Emir Agic. Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country. Int J Bus Econ Res. 2021;10(5):203-208. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15,
      author = {Muamer Halilbasic and Emir Agic},
      title = {Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country},
      journal = {International Journal of Business and Economics Research},
      volume = {10},
      number = {5},
      pages = {203-208},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijber.20211005.15},
      abstract = {The issue of economic convergence has been widely analyzed by the researchers. Convergence hypothesis has been tested at different levels - global, national, regional and local. This paper is analyzing local economic convergence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in last three decades. In this period the country was facing twofold transition: from war to peace and from socialism to market economy. The regression and distributional approach to convergence analysis are combined. The first hypothesis research is testing is that poor municipalities grow faster comparing to rich municipalities – unconditional beta convergence. Second hypothesis is that dispersion of local per capita GDP decreases over time – sigma convergence. To further investigate the issue and check the changes in the distribution, several visual inspection instruments were also used. The research findings are inconclusive. While regression analysis provides some evidence for unconditional beta-convergence, in a case of sigma convergence, results are mixed. This is related to significant structural changes country went through, firmly confirmed with the transitional probability matrix data. Findings confirm the necessity for combining different approaches and instruments while analysing convergence. From the specific country perspective, research results can be used as a strong argument for the necessity of new more balanced regional development policy.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Testing Convergence in Post-War Transition Country
    AU  - Muamer Halilbasic
    AU  - Emir Agic
    Y1  - 2021/10/28
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15
    T2  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    JF  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    JO  - International Journal of Business and Economics Research
    SP  - 203
    EP  - 208
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-756X
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20211005.15
    AB  - The issue of economic convergence has been widely analyzed by the researchers. Convergence hypothesis has been tested at different levels - global, national, regional and local. This paper is analyzing local economic convergence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in last three decades. In this period the country was facing twofold transition: from war to peace and from socialism to market economy. The regression and distributional approach to convergence analysis are combined. The first hypothesis research is testing is that poor municipalities grow faster comparing to rich municipalities – unconditional beta convergence. Second hypothesis is that dispersion of local per capita GDP decreases over time – sigma convergence. To further investigate the issue and check the changes in the distribution, several visual inspection instruments were also used. The research findings are inconclusive. While regression analysis provides some evidence for unconditional beta-convergence, in a case of sigma convergence, results are mixed. This is related to significant structural changes country went through, firmly confirmed with the transitional probability matrix data. Findings confirm the necessity for combining different approaches and instruments while analysing convergence. From the specific country perspective, research results can be used as a strong argument for the necessity of new more balanced regional development policy.
    VL  - 10
    IS  - 5
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Sarajevo School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

  • Sarajevo School of Economics and Business, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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