Has the Great Recession affected the convergence process? The case of Spanish provinces

Abstract

This paper explores potential convergence across the Spanish provinces, paying special attention to the influence of the recent international crisis on this process. To this end, we have taken the traditional per capita gross domestic product and the multidimensional index of human development as references. Our results show the formation of several clubs whose composition and convergence pattern has been modified by the recent crisis: the previously increasing differences in the average per capita gross domestic product between clubs have been attenuated, whilst the decreasing disparities in the average human development index have been stabilized. However, the behavior of the clubs in the last period of the sample suggests that these differences may increase notably in the post crisis years.