Investigating the consumer price indices convergence among Iran provinces using cluster analysis

This paper tests the hypothesis of consumer price indices convergence among Iran provinces over the period from 2003 to 2016 by implementing cluster analysis. The results show that there is no evidence of overall convergence among provinces. However, the results suggest that there are three convergence clubs. The first, and the largest, club consist of 19 provinces. The second and third clubs consist of 3 and 4 provinces. Tehran forms a divergent club. Moreover, club members do not belong to any specific income and population category and there is no evidence of geographic clustering. Overall, the results point to possible market segmentation, persistent difference between living costs across provinces and possible different impact of monetary policy over general price level across provinces. JEL Classification: C32, E31, F15