Towards Convergence of Multidimensional Poverty: A Spatial Econometrics Cross-Sectional Analysis in Morocco's Communes

Traditionally, poverty is measured in one dimension, the monetary dimension. Despite its simplicity, this approach has faced criticism for neglecting other crucial aspects of well-being such as education, health, and access to resources. This study examines multidimensional poverty convergence in Morocco using three measures and a sample of 1650 communes from 2004 to 2014. In part, this study aimed to investigate the evidence of absolute convergence. In the second part, the analysis was extended to conditional convergence. Generally, the results confirm that the overall poverty convergence is significant. However, the convergence speed was very low. The introduction of explanatory variables slightly favors the convergence process in communes, but it remains very low. Furthermore, the results confirm the negative effect of inequality on poverty convergence. Finally, the results confirm the positive effect of the Human Development Index, which contributes significantly to poverty convergence, suggesting that human development efforts can help reduce poverty. However, has a negative impact on the convergence of poverty among urban communes. This may be explained by the fact that the National Initiative for Human Development focuses primarily on rural areas. Overall, the results indicate that poverty is geographically pronounced.