Comment

Neoclassical growth theory posits that countries with access to identical technologies should converge to a common income level. However, an important literature, exemplified by Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1992), tested this prediction using cross-country data from 1960 to 1990 and instead found conditional convergence. That is, poor countries converged in growth to rich countries only after conditioning on policies, institutions, and other country-specific factors such as human capital. “Converging to Convergence” extends the underlying data series up to 2015, reestimates cross-country growth regressions, and documents a striking change. Since the mid-1980s, there has been a trend toward unconditional convergence culminating in absolute convergence since 2000 (roughly 1% per annum). The paper examines convergence in correlates of growth, andfinds that enhanced Solow fundamentals (s, n, h), short-run correlates (political and financial institutions, fiscal policy), and culture all show b-convergence. This evidence, the authors suggest, is supportive of “institutional homogenization” contributing to absolute convergence: short-run growth coefficients diminished because convergence of “development-favored” policies outpaced that of income. Importantly, the same is not true of Solow fundamentals. The paper is based on an impressive collation of data sets and careful standardization of conditioning variables. Using the original empirical specification developed in Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1992), it documents