A Convergence Analysis of Road Accidents Across Indian States

Abstract

The present study investigates whether there is any evidence of club convergence for incidence of per capita road accidents across Indian states. The study uses the quantitative technique of the Phillips and Sul convergence approach to discover state convergence patterns based on the per capita accident cases. Although the findings suggest a divergence for aggregate panel of states, but there is existence of convergence among few states together as a group. Furthermore, our analysis shows a divergence in the number of road accident cases in both urban and rural areas, but there is evidence of club convergence across states in both urban and rural areas. The divergence finding clearly indicates that traffic accidents occur more often in certain states. The government must pay attention and should come up with more stringent policy to reduce the cases of road accidents in India. JEL Codes: R4, R41