This article contributes to the literature on the convergence problem by studying whether there is β-convergence between the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean by analyzing the trend in beta convergence, calculating regressions between ten-year periods of economic growth and the logarithm of per capita income. Thus, the trend of convergence from 1950 can be studied and any sub-period in which absolute convergence has occurred can be detected. For that purpose, the current study uses data from the Penn World Tables between 1950 and 2019 for all economies in the region. Although wider sample empirical tests in the 1990s found little evidence of unconditional convergence of poor countries from the 1950s on, this study tests whether these results still hold for the subsample of Latin American and Caribbean economies. While the Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries show a divergence pattern, the economic integration among the Caribbean Islands is yielding fruit in terms of σ-convergence. The main policy implication is that a major integration of Latin American countries would support convergence to a common steady state. Hence, all the countries should implement policies to develop their comparative advantages.

本文通过分析 beta 收敛趋势，计算十年经济增长期与每人均收入。因此，可以研究 1950 年以来的收敛趋势，并且可以检测到出现绝对收敛的任何子时期。为此，当前的研究使用了 1950 年至 2019 年间该地区所有经济体的宾夕法尼亚世界表数据。尽管 1990 年代更广泛的样本实证检验几乎没有发现 1950 年代以来穷国无条件收敛的证据，但本研究检验了这些结果是否仍然适用于拉丁美洲和加勒比经济体的子样本。虽然西班牙语和葡萄牙语国家表现出分歧模式，但加勒比群岛之间的经济一体化正在 σ 收敛方面取得成果。主要的政策含义是拉丁美洲国家的主要一体化将支持趋同于一个共同的稳定状态。因此，各国都应该实施政策来发展自己的比较优势。