Testing for government spending convergence across Canadian provinces

In this article, two types of tests are employed to investigate the converg ence trends of real per capita government spending in Canadian provinces. S ome signs of simple convergence were detected, with the growth of federal s pending being larger in poor than in rich provinces, and with Quebec benefi ting marginally more than rich provinces. There was evidence of convergence in Eastern Canadian provinces toward Quebec, and some indications that con vergence in government spending was concentrated in rich provinces. These l ast findings appear to indicate that convergence, whenever found, may coinc ide with economic growth and economic integration that together foster econ omic homogenization.