Robust analysis of convergence in per capita GDP in BRICS economies

Whilst the issue of whether or not per capita GDP adheres to the convergence theory continues to draw increasing attention within the academic paradigm, with very little consensus having been reached in the literature thus far. Our study contributes to the literature by examining the stationarity of per capita GDP for BRICS countries using annual data collected between 1971 and 2015. Considering that our sample covers a period underlying a number of crisis and structural breaks within and amongst the BRICS countries, we rely on a robust nonlinear unit root testing procedure which captures a series of unobserved structural breaks. Our results confirm on Brazil and China being the only two BRICS economies who present the most convincing evidence of per capita GDP converging back to it’s natural equilibrium after an economic shock, whilst Russia and South Africa provide less convincing evidence of convergence dynamics in the time series and India having the weakest convergence properties.