THE IMPACT OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION ON PER CAPITAL INCOMES OF ECOWAS COUNTRIES
Résumé
This paper investigates regional integration and its impact on per capita income convergence or
divergence of ECOWAS countries and the formation of income clubs in selected years between
1980 and 2015. Using World Bank classification (2002, 2015) to identify ECOWAS countries’
income groups and sigma convergence to establish convergence or divergence, the paper
presents the evidence that ECOWAS countries belong to different income groups. The sigma
convergence using standard deviation shows divergence in incomes while the coefficient of
variation shows no clear tendency of convergence or divergence. Thus, there has been limited
progress and prospects of ECOWAS integration process despite the importance of the concept to
foster economic cooperation in the sub region. It is recommended that common policies be
adopted in ECOWAS and in particular, on trade and investment which are critical indicators in
the formation of regional integration and catalysts for income convergence, regional growth and
economic cooperation.
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