Abstract:

Although many empirical research results have come out on China′s regional economic convergence and divergence since the late 1990s，many of them do not agree，due to different selections of research time periods and methods.This paper，making univariate and multivariate kernel density estimation by applying nonparametric methods，analyzes the convergence modes among the provinces in China since 1978.The result indicates that we cannot obtain the support of the credible evidence of convergence in China′s province-based economic growth.That is，there has no sign of the convergence in the province-based growth paths.Furthermore，the disparity of growth ratio among provinces widens with the economic growth.So does the disparity of output even within the region.The result also demonstrates that club convergence across China′s provinces does not exist.

Key words: economic convergence and divergence, regional economy, nonparametric kernel density estimation