Poverty convergence elasticity is defined as<sup>��������</sup> �����������<sup>14</sup> and can be decomposed into three components (Ravallion, 2012):

- (i) _Mean convergence effect_ which is the interaction between the initial level of non-poverty and elasticity of the initial poverty rate with respect to the original mean of consumption;

- (ii) _Direct effect of poverty_ which takes into account the level of the initial non-poverty, and

- (iii) _Poverty elasticity effect_ which is the interaction between the growth of the mean consumption and poverty rate in the initial period.

Figure 6 illustrates descriptive statistics of a scatter plot of annualized growth of the poverty rate from 2006 to 2013, and initial poverty rates in 2006. The illustrations reveal interesting and polarizing trends on poverty convergence in Turkey. Namely, when looking at the country as a whole, there is a lack of poverty convergence, which is related to poor poverty reduction performance of the Eastern regions. When excluding the East from the scatter plot, there is very clear poverty convergence; regions with higher initial poverty rates in 2006 had the largest reductions in poverty from 2006 to 2013.

Figure 6. Lack of Poverty Convergence at the National Level, but Convergence is present when excluding the Eastern regions (2006-2013) <!-- Start of picture text --> (a) All regions (b) Excluding the Eastern regions<br>TR10 TR10<br>TRA1TRB1<br>TRA2<br>TR41 TR42 TRB2 TR41 TR42<br>TR51 TR33TR21TR52TR32TR90 TR22 TR82TR83TR81TR72TR71TR62TR63 TRC1TRC3 TRC2 TR51 TR33TR21TR52 TR32TR22 TR82TR90TR81TR72TR71TR83 TR62TR63 TRCTRC3TRC21<br>TR31 TR31<br>TR61 TR61<br>2 2.5 3 3.5 4<br>Log initial poverty rate ($5/day PPP) 2 2.5 3 3.5 4<br>Log initial poverty rate ($5/day PPP)<br>40 40<br>20 20<br>0 0<br>-20 -20<br>Annualized growth in the poverty rate 2006-2013 ($5/day PPP) -40 Annualized growth in the poverty rate 2006-2013 ($5/day PPP)<br>-40<br><!-- End of picture text --> _Notes_ Over the period 2006-2013. Initial poverty rate is from 2006. Income based poverty. There are 26 NUTS2 regions in Turkey, and 19 when excluding the Eastern regions (TRA, TRB). _Source_ : SILC and LFS 2006-2013, authors’ calculations.

Table 2 summarizes the decomposition of poverty convergence elasticity for cases without population weights. Excluding population weights gives equal representation to each region. Poverty convergence is examined and decomposed for all NUTS2 regions, as well as when excluding the Eastern regions. The exclusion of Eastern region is very descriptive of the uneven speed of poverty convergence in the country. Second, we examine convergence at the $2.5/day 2005PPP and $5/day 2005PPP poverty lines.

Across all regions and over the period 2006 to 2013, there is a lack of poverty convergence both at the $2.5/day and $5/day PPP poverty lines. The only effect that is negative is the poverty elasticity effect which shows that poverty declined where there were episodes of high growth. The lack of poverty convergence is

> 14 The variable ������� is the growth rate of the headcount for region r and in year t, and ��������� is the log of the initial headcount for region r (lagged one year)

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