Mean reversion in per capita GDP of Asian countries : Evidence from a nonlinear panel unit root test

Purpose – This study aims to examine the stationarity characteristics of per capita GDP of 17 Asian countries and subpanels for South Asia, East Asia, and high income Asian countries in nonlinear framework. Design/methodology/approach – The authors employed a recently developed nonlinear panel unit root test suggested by Ucar and Omaga in PESTAR framework for full panel and the subpanels. Findings – The results indicate that per capita GDP for the full panel of Asian countries and panel of South Asian countries are linear nonstationary, whereas for the panel of East Asia and high income developed countries have a nonlinear data generating process and are stationary. Originality/value – The use of newly developed nonlinear panel unit root test for Asian countries is the main contribution of the study. In that aspect, this is the first study to employ such a test in this area.