Testing Club Convergence in COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Administered in the United States

Ogundari, Kolawole (2023): Testing Club Convergence in COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Administered in the United States.

Abstract

The development of vaccines is considered an important public health tool to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus globally. And this study examines whether convergence exists in COVID-19 vaccinations across U.S. states and territories. We employed the club convergence test and data on the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered daily from December 13, 2020, to October 11, 2022. This yields balanced panel data covering all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and 8 U.S. territories with 39 412 observations. The empirical result shows a lack of support for the overall convergence in the data. We employed the club clustering algorithm to check whether club convergence exists in the sample. And the results identify two initial convergence clubs and a divergence group in COVID-19 vaccinations across U.S. states and territories. Finally, we performed a club merger test because of the possible overestimation of the number of clubs. This resulted in identifying one final convergence club and a divergence group in the sample. The evidence supporting the lack of overall convergence in the data implies that the states/territories with lower COVID-19 vaccination rates are not catching up with those with higher vaccination rates over time. Also, a convergence club means that states/territories in the club with lower vaccination rates are catching up with those with higher vaccination rates over time. Therefore, increasing vaccination rates might require specific interventions targeting states and territories within the convergence club.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: COVID-19, Convergence, Divergence, Panel data, Vaccine, United States
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

References

Apergis N, Christou C, Gupta R, Miller. S.M. Convergence in income inequality: Further Evidence from the Club Clustering Methodology across states in the U.S. International Advances in Economic Review, 2018; 24: 147-161.

Bai C, Mao Y, Gong Y, Feng C. Club convergence and factors of per capita Transportation Carbon Emissions in China, Sustainability. 2019; 11(2) 539. [cited 2022 November 17]. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020539

CDC. COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States. [updated: 2022 October 22; cited 2022 November 16]. Available from: https:// covid. cdc. gov/ covid- data- track er/#vacci natio ns_ vacc- total- admin- rate- total

Churchill SA, Inekwe J, Ivanovsla K. Has the COVID-19 pandemic converged across countries? Empirical Economics. 2022 [cited 2022 November 17]. Available from: https:// doi.org/10.1007/s00181-022-023119-0

Du K . Econometric convergence test and club clustering using Stata. The Stata Journal. 2017; 17(4): 882-900.

Jorda V, Sarabia JM. International convergence in well-being Indicators. Social Indicator Research. 2015; 120: 1-27.

MAYO CLINIC. Herd immunity and COVID-19 (2021): What you need to know. [updated: 2021 September 19; cited 2022 November 27]. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/herd-immunity-and-coronavirus/art-20486808

Ogundari K, Ito S. Convergence and determinants of change in nutrient supply: Evidence from sub-Saharan African countries. British Food Journal. 2015; 117 (12): 2880-2898.

Ogundari K. Club convergence of crime rates in the United States of America. Journal of Criminological Research, Policy, and Practice. 2022; 8(1): 2-14.

Phillips PCB, Sul D. Transition modeling and econometric convergence tests. Econometrica. 2007; 75(6):1771–1855

Phillips PCB, Sul D. Economic transition and growth. Journal of Applied Economics. 2009; 24: 1153–1185

Ravallion M. Why don't we see poverty convergence? American Economic Review. 2012; 102 (1): 504-523.

Regmi A, Takeshima H, Unnevehr L. Convergence in global food demand and delivery. USDA Economic Research Report #56. 2008 [cited 2022 November 17]. Available from: https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/45964/12254_err56_1_.pdf?v=0

Sala-i-Martin X. The classical approach to convergence analysis. The Economic Journal. 1996; 106 (437): 1019-1036.

Tevdovsk D, Jolakoski P, Stojkoski V. The impact of state capacity on the cross-country variations in COBVID-19 vaccination rates. International Journal of Health Economics and Management 2022; 22: 237-255.

UNDP. Impact of vaccine inequity on the labor market. United Nations Development Program. [updated: 2021 May 21; cited 2022 November 16]. Available from: https:// data. undp. org/ vaccine- equity/ impact- of- Vaccine- inequity- on- the- labor- market/

WHO. World Health Organization Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. [updated: 2022 December 18; cited 2022 December 23]. Available from: https://covid19.who.int/

Xu W, Lau CKM, Zhang d, Oke O. Testing the club convergence Dynamics of the COVID-19 Vaccinations Rates Across the OECD countries. Frontiers in Public Health. 2022; 10. [cited 2022 November 17]. Available from: doi.:10.3389/pubh.2022.872561