International income growth and convergence and the South African economy

Abstract

This paper considers the growth experience of the South African economy during 1970-1994, against the background of the international convergence phenomenon affirmed by Daumol (1986). Convergence refers to the idea that countries with initially low real per capita income tend to grow faster than wealthier countries, and that their per capita income levels and growth rates will eventually reach a common end-state. This empirically observed catching-up process by the developing countries is assisted by their economic restructuring. Here the growth performance of the South African economy is compared with some established and newly industrialised countries, using statistical dispersion and distance measures.