Regional convergence in Kazakhstan

摘要

This article studies sigma- and beta-convergence across the regions of Kazakhstan over the period of 1993-2014. The results of the article show that incomes across the regions of Kazakhstan diverged over the whole period of 1993-2014 and the period of 1993-2006, and converged during the period of 2006-2014. However, after controlling for the rate of investment and population growth it is evident that regional convergence occurred over the whole period of 1993-2014. This would suggest that since private investment in Kazakhstan is heavily influenced by the availability of natural resources in the regions, regional policy in Kazakhstan should be directed towards shifting away from a resource-based growth model to an alternative growth model.