Economic performance clubs in the Americas: 1955-2003

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the economic dynamics of aset of countries of the Americas during the 1955-2003 period. It doesthis by introducing an alternative concept of economic performancebased on the idea of dynamic regimes. These regimes are defined bythe level and growth rate of per capita gross domestic product (GDP);.By introducing a non-parametric clustering method, the study identifiestwo main performance clubs whose evolution is studied. One of them,identified as the club of high-performing countries, displays a relativelyhomogeneous structure. The second group, conversely, presents ahigh level of dispersion in performances, suggesting the existence ofsubclusters with a degree of divergence between them. The study alsofinds that there is mobility between the low- and high-performing groupsand that the distance between clusters increases over time.